ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of soccer goalkeepers to anticipate the direction of a penalty kick. Kuhn (1988) has shown that for a goalkeeper to save a penalty struck at more than 20.83 m/s he must initiate his movement before or as the striker makes contact. Only if the ball is struck at less than this speed can the goalkeeper wait until after contact before moving. As the goalkeeper does not know what the ball velocity will be, it is important that he begins his movement, at the latest, at contact. If this is the case then the goalkeeper must use some form of perceptual anticipation in order to determine the direction of the flight of the ball.
