Why left footed penalties are best

Try The Athletic for FREE for 30 days: theathletic.com/tifofootball
📗 Tifo's new book, "How to Watch Football" is now available internationally: linktr.ee/tifobook
When taking a penalty, recent evidence suggests that there is a significant advantage in being left-footed.
But why? What is the advantage?
Liam Tharme writes. Philippe Fenner illustrates.
Follow Tifo Football:
Twitter: / tifofootball_
Facebook: / tifofootball
Instagram: / tifofootball_
Listen to the Tifo Football podcast:
The Athletic UK: bit.ly/TifoPodChannel
Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/TifoFootPod
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/06QIGhq...
Watch more Tifo Football: Tactics Explained: • Tactics Explained | Ti...
Finances & Laws: • Finances & Laws | Tifo...
Tifo Football Podcast: • Tifo Football Podcast
Most Recent Videos: • Most Recent Videos | T...
1 Popular Videos: • Popular Videos | Tifo ...
About Tifo Football:
Tifo loves football. We create In-depth tactical, historical and geopolitical breakdowns of the beautiful game.
We know there’s an appetite for thoughtful, intelligent content. For stuff that makes the complicated simple.
We provide analysis on the Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, World Cup and more.
Our podcasts interview some of the game’s leading figures. And our editorial covers football with depth and insight.
Founded in 2017 and became a part of The Athletic in 2020. For business inquiries, reach out to [e-mail].
Music sourced from epidemicsound.com
Additional footage sourced from freestockfootagearchive.com
#Football #PremierLeague #Penalty

[@arant7772]

Fewer left footed takers means keepers have less practice in training

[@jaspreetsinghsuman]

My thoughts exactly

[@oliverhughes610]

That is covered in the video, yes.

[@HouseTracksNL]

Tldr:

[@uniquefreak13]

Did you remember that from the video 😂😂😂

[@purpleyranger]

@@uniquefreak13pretty sure the lad just wanted to save us from wasting 10mins of our lives. I for one am grateful.

[@AxeMinion]

I’m surprised they don’t mention that most goalkeepers are right handed - it’s harder to dive down to the left with your weaker hand, and since left footers can find that corner more effectively, there’s an advantage there. Also, and especially with Kane leaving, the two top penalty takers are lefties - Haaland and Salah, who play for the two best teams. Saka is also Arsenals primary pen taker. So it’s a mixture of some baked-in advantage (the rarity of left feet vs the populous of right hands), and the circumstantial prevalence of left feet in the leagues current crop of designated pen takers at the top clubs (whom you’d expect to be more attacking and win more penalties)

[@user-zu9by8fj1d]

I've never played football even at an amateur club, however, while diving in the slips (or on the field) in cricket, I (a right handed person), found diving and catching to my left easier. Just a personal anecdote.

[@saucerar7615]

​@@user-zu9by8fj1dinteresting, but its harder to dive on the left and try to save shots which usually goes in the bottom left corner with your weaker arm. at least thats my anecdote as a goalkeeper

[@andymerrett]

two OF the best teams. Bloody Klopp fanboy.

[@harold6954]

Bruno

[@AxeMinion]

@@andymerrett you don’t think Man City and Liverpool are the top two teams? Fair enough, I suspect most people do though (yes me included, and who said I was a Liverpool fan??). Maybe you are an Arsenal fan - I mentioned Saka for that reason, they are right up there. I think there’s a considerable gap after Arsenal though. Just my opinions.

[@NemDzA97]

I still remember Mourinho's comment on why he brought Matic to Chelsea which still puzzles me: "Having a left footed midfielder with his size is a great advantage for any team" Since then, he took Matic with him to United and Roma

[@madeupstory9510]

The reason he wanted a left footed midfielder is the same reason Pep and ETH want left footed CBs. In order to build from the back, players will have to be able to take the ball on their comfortable foot. I can't really describe it but it's all about build up.

[@lagh]

The same is true for tennis players. It is far more difficult for professional tennis players to play against left handed players because they play against them so infrequently. They often train and play against right handed players.

[@0megalul309]

Badminton too. Lin Dan is the only back to back Olympic winner and he's lefty

[@ShakirShariff]

True. Even as a left-hander, I find playing with another lefty difficult too!

[@beneasler8868]

Salah is like 3 of those 4 misses this season 😭. Ironically enough, he's a lefty too

[@AeonQuasar]

I know that the football lords want more goals, but not allowing goalkeepers to move while the penalty takers can jump, reduce/increase running speed, almost stop etc is just stupid. But they don't want to do anything about that, they just want more goals.

[@wingedhussar1453]

Its not stupid.if goalie xan get in front and jump out of goal he can stop most all of them if he sees it going there

[@CoconutJewce]

@@wingedhussar1453 It's not about coming off the line; it's about keepers not being able to intimidate the pen takers anymore.

[@ChorizoFungis]

Stop crying about it and just watch the game

[@wingedhussar1453]

@@CoconutJewce well it helps with that to.after world cup and Argentina u cam see why it was ridiculous. But stil the refs don't even keep track of it half the time right

[@MrWhitmen1981]

Should be able to do what you want behind the line. Move any direction.

[@walk2146]

It’s the same thing for swordsmen. They are used to fighting right handed fighters so that gives left ganders a natural advantage.

[@PrimeSackage]

Similarly in baseball, left handed pitchers are put at a premium because many players learn to bat lefty even if they are right handed, meaning that there is a higher percentage of lefty batters to righty batters than lefty pitchers to righty pitchers. Since there is this discrepancy, and with pitchers having an advantage against like-handed batters, left handed pitchers are highly sought after.

[@user-dr3qh6pd6n]

Not true actually there’s far more right handed hitters compared to left handed and switch combined. It’s down to curveball/ slider break. It’s harder to hit a breaking pitch breaking in on you than away from you so left handed pitches are at an advantage when facing right handed hitters

[@SKa-tt9nm]

Yeah, no.

[@gangstalker5461]

@@user-dr3qh6pd6n hitters do better against pitchers of the opposite hand. Because the pitchers release point is further away, you have more time. And if youre early on a ball breaking in, you can still drive it. But if youre early on a ball breaking away youre probably gonna roll over. There are exceptions of course like mariano rivera a righty who was lethal against lefties with his cutter

[@SessoConNino226]

The change in rules brought by fifa on penalty taking have drastically influenced the conversion rate. Mind games are gone, goalkeepers cant even put pressure on a scoring player or trying to confuse or decieve him, and most of all they cant even celebrate anymore or 'boohoo the attackers will feel bad'; Emi Martinez's prime shithousery Is a great example of how gks can influence shootouts, and indirect cause of this new rule, but this honestly just feels like a greedy move to have as many goals as possible to guarantee more 'show'

[@danielprice6762]

Good! It's supposed to be punishment for committing a foul after all

[@anirbankar4941]

🙌

[@kkpw12]

Can’t be more Accurate!

[@frostyamii]

Totally agree mate , W pfp too

[@akashyadav8513]

Exactly

[@kyozaki9838]

Makes sense. You also see it in fighting. Most fighters are orthodox (left side forward) and facing a Southpaw opponent (right side forward) causes problems as everything they've learned in training is now reversed, not just their own offense, but anticipating the opponent and reacting properly, as described for keepers on this video. Many fighters learn to fight in both stances to be trickier opponents. EA sports UFC 3, 4 and 5 really do a good job of mimicking this: If your front leg is damaged, you'll switch stance so it's now at the rear and harder to hit, but now all of your techniques are reversed which is so awkward, that you're even tempted to switch back because it's what you're familiar with, even with the danger of continual damage to your compromised leg might cost you the fight.

[@mateyp3365]

If they looked at more than just the premier league, the video could be taken seriously. Now the sample size is just too small

[@azzido]

Problem with this statistic is that its skewed by which team gets penalties and just a handful of their players. Salah, Haaland, Ødegaard, Saka, Palmer. All top pen takers for their team with a left foot. That also skewes the statistic. We are just in a period where some of the best players are left footed..

[@glimpsepandey3174]

Yeah Salah, Haaland, Palmer, Saka being left-footed impacts the statistical narrative a lot. Chelsea have been awarded the most penalties in the league this season, and among the two Palmer didn't take, one was taken by Madueke, another left-footer. Three of Arsenal's top four penalty-taker options, Saka, Odegaard and Havertz are all left-footers. Or maybe coaches are actively preferring left-footed takers for the same reason. Palmer and Madueke did not have any record with penalties prior. Same for Saka before the Euro final. Havertz also became Chelsea's designated penalty taker second to Jorginho without having a lot of career penalties prior.

[@abhikalpshekhar]

This is true for most sports, being left footed means the opposition has less practice against you, while you have more practice against them , one of the major advantages for example that messi has over cr7 is the fact that he is left footed, being able to torment defenders more effectivity, in fact , the best dribblers we know are left footed- messi maradona overall and players like bernardo silva, mo salah currently

[@eX1st4132]

tryna sneak bernardo silva in there

[@abhikalpshekhar]

@@eX1st4132 i hate man city to their core but in the prem it is hard to think of better dribblers , especially in tight spaces

[@brother44444]

palah cant dribble to save his life 😂😂😂

[@brother44444]

@@eX1st4132bro tried to sneak salah 😂

[@KirbyBackwards]

Won tickets to a local game in the fancy box when I won a penalty shootout at my local youth club some years back, I thought I was good but it might just be that i'm left footed! Would be interesting to see more videos on left footed biases in football

[@jamesinho28]

Gary Speed was one of the penalty GOATs. Guess he was ahead of his time.

[@drex5160]

Also, after Martinez's antics at the Copa America & the WC, sh*thousery from the GK has also been minimized during penalties.

[@uncreative5766]

As a left-footed person, I'm just waiting for my chance now.

[@nix8260]

I'm left-footed as well..except that my chance will never come 😂

[@tarameagan235]

“Why left footed penalties are best?” Fewer left footed players is the direct reason. Which side is the weak side for a GK? Based on a direct shot without a feint. 1.A goalkeeper's strong and weak side depends more on legs than hands; 2.Goalkeeper to dive further and faster, he should push the ground with his near foot; 3.The dominant foot of most goalkeepers is the right foot, which is consistent with the overall trend of players; 4.For a right-footed goalkeeper, his most feared position is his bottom left corner.

[@francescoandreussi]

It would be interesting to analyse the handedness/footedness of the keepers... intuitively it's easier for a right-handed/footed keeper to dive to his/her low-right compared to their low-left and vice versa (the movement is just easier to execute by first-hand experience...pun kinda intended). Therefore, I suspect that right-handed keepers have a slight advantage against right-footed pen-takers (since, usually for a right-footed player, it is easier to shoot with more power to the keeper's right) Does it make sense?!🤔

[@larryachiya2475]

I miss Joe Devine. Still good content though

[@edemehtawardhana5962]

Is he left Tifo? What happened?

[@MrBLAAHHHHHHHHHHH]

@@edemehtawardhana5962He got promoted within The Athletic if I remember correctly.

[@andymerrett]

@@edemehtawardhana5962 "Joe Devine gets tired acting as a clown every week." Shrug.

[@jamtart1998]

2:55 Wait, is the voice over right or the graphic?

[@salmanaitlaachir1958]

Fantastic work 👏🏻

[@kinged6792]

This was a master class in Education 👏🏾

[@ChesterBowerman]

It's interesting how around 20% of professional footballers are naturally left-footed, whereas in equipment-based sports like golf, tennis, cricket etc there are far fewer. I heard that in golf only around 3% of the professional tour is left-handed.

[@MrReese]

3:09 It's the same phenomenon in tennis with left-handed players vs. right-handed players. It's a lot more pronounced there than in football penalties since penalties are such a small part of football.

[@hanpol2053]

invasion sports is a funny term and kinda right. I'm a left footer but a right hander and apparently, that is close to the ultimate combo one can have in karate and other sports were both sets of limbs are allowed, the best is apparently left handed right footer. but both are fairly rare.

[@fraseroliver17]

Disagree. As a keeper I am more confident of knowing where a lefty is going rather than a righty. Easier to read. But these stats are top league i guess

[@idondubiousvevo1197]

Depends on the keepers dominant leg. When diving in the dominant side its a bit easier and quicker than the weak foot side

[@adzter96]

Are keepers more likely to be right footed so possibly be slightly better/more likely to dive to their right and players more often go across their body so a right footer to the keepers right and left footers to the keepers left so the left footer would send the keeper the wrong way more?

[@jt663]

Great video but please use more legible fonts in future

[@vince7207]

Same as being a lefty in tennis, or a southpaw on boxing... Not many train against it.

[@jackputnam4273]

great video tifo team!

[@petersergeant2840]

it’s like left arm bowlers in cricket are so important because batsmen aren’t used to facing them as much

[@barrycarter7274]

Same with batsmen. Bowlers might not bowl against them as often depending on the country/team they're in. South Africa doesn't have that many left handers compared to the rest of the world I've noticed. Wouldn't know the exact stats

[@hughmungus2479]

Does this also work in Football Manager?

[@steveluetchford602]

Being left footed & the fact there aren't too many of us on average I'd have to agree

[@azyanop1241]

My dominent foot is my right but because of a toe injury I started shooting with my left but still dribbled with right.After some time I realised that my dribbling with left has also increased even tho I never practiced it which makes my left and right foot almost the same and it gives me a great advantage in games❤

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

0:45 - this wasn't a law change, this was always in the rules and has been since 1905. It just wasn't enforced as it should've been. The only law change pertaining to goalkeepers from penalties occurred in 1997 when they were allowed to move laterally along the goal line as opposed to standing still.

[@mark5338]

Has nothing to do with new football but just the fact that the best 2 attacks in the prem are both left footed and take pens for their teams who get penalties awarded often.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

Do more goals tend to be scored in the first half of matches or the second half? Instinctively I'd be inclined to think that it's probably the first half, because the players are starting off fresh, whereas by the second half they've obviously gone through the exertion of the first half and so won't be quite as sharp, though there probably isn't that big a difference - certainly not to the extent that I've ever noticed!

[@ZaqwanMZ]

Nice video ❤

[@jackbrownio3]

Tbf top footballers are good enough that they all should be able to score a penalty with both feet, so should really be able to change it up and trick keepers

[@T0AD0FT0ADHALL]

Some of this is needlessly complicated. Left footers scoring multiple penalties this season: Haaland, Salah, Odegaard, Saka, Cole Palmer. Current left footers are just ballers. Goalies spend time every week researching their opponents and practicing for these things. It's just hard against decent takers, who by the way also play for the teams getting by far the most penalties...

[@minimalrandom]

Please do a video on Valverde

[@Chadicus22]

This is a normal 'phenomenon' in every sport. Left-handed bowlers in cricket or baseball are better because batters usually practise against the more widely common right-handers. This obviously applies for football, and not to mention that Haaland is left footed, that also boosts the numbers.

[@cc48025]

such small samples sizes

[@Viewer41]

Le Tisser is the best penalty taker of the last 30 years.

[@el_gringo9211]

I've been watching football for long and left footers are predictable because they have to shift their body slightly when taking pens and they cannot stand straight while a right footer can stand either at an angle or straight

[@Omar_Little]

No music?

[@froastytoasty7047]

cole palmer, salah, haaland, odegard and saka are all left footed pen takers, chelsea and arsenal have had the most pens this season followed by city and liverpool so the discrepency makes sense

[@duran9664]

⚠️ Wait ! ⚠️ What about left handed goalkeepers❓

[@jackmiller-johnston8689]

No joke, it's a blessing to be left footed 👌

[@JetonHoxha99]

I always tremble when the team i am supporting has a left-footed penalty taker.

[@megadisc1982]

Jurong West SH @ Pioneer 15/01 Mon 7-9pm LAST 2 SLOT 17/01 Wed 7-9pm FULL 19/01 Fried 7-9pm Unity Sec @ yew tee 20/01 Sat 6-8pm MB-HB level may u join us ? 🥑

[@dougwarren9569]

Left footed players tend to be more one footed so it may be that they are more skilled with their better foot.

[@jamesduffy7549]

Because the keeper has to be sat down facing the other way with their hands in their pocket and if they breathe in the wrong direction its retaken

[@weston407]

my brother tired fencing when he was in middle school and was told that he has a huge advantage because he's left-handed

[@cameron2348]

mic needs a little more bass

[@JFranz1981]

Leighton Baines, the OG left-footed Merseyside PK taker

[@ManicSaint81]

The penalty king Matt le Tissier will say different

[@myopiniondoesntmatter7068]

TLDR: Its like playing a fighting game on the player 2 side. Nobody practices on that side so nobody is used to it

[@connorlane4291]

As a keeper I tend to read left footers better idk. Definitely saved more left footed penalties than right 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@sutejasastra]

So thats why Thiery Henry so deadly in EPL

[@anthtan]

3:12 "Negative frequency-dependent hypothesis" Phew!

[@baofc2609]

Thank god I changed my prefer foot from right to left years ago😅

[@peteraleksandrovich5923]

As with so many footy stats, the data pool is too small to make anything but a guess.

[@marvingarcia6038]

Well explain to me why Messi misses more PKs then cr7 🙃

[@roxys999]

Left footed penalty takers in the PL this season (off the top of my head) - Salah, Saka, Palmer, Mbeumo, Haaland

[@JabbarTV1]

Just make pens 1 on 1 with the keeper, from the half circle outside the area

[@j.c.n9718]

Erling Haaland Mo Salah Cole Palmer.

[@jay_archie]

Different voice ?

[@pkstyll7920]

I recall a stat that left footers are disadvantaged when taking penalties

[@enigmatiks]

If you find it, please link it. I’d be interested in reading it

[@owenclemett9575]

Miss Joe’s voice

[@maffers4748]

James Milner strongly disagrees

[@williamlima8489]

Cole Palmer has entered the chat:

[@teamtempest844]

Because the keeper isn't even allowed to breathe whilst playing statue on the line allowing the ball to cross the line.

[@endgame1222]

To be accurate, it wasn’t a law change it was an enforcement change. The law already existed, it was just inconsistently enforced.

[@Mr_Peachyy]

I guess I’m lucky I’m left-footed..

[@jesthomas2199]

Everything looks better with a left peg 🤷🏻

[@fosterkawayne6391]

No way I always think to myself that left footed players penalties are easy to guess 😂

[@dudegamer992]

what about ronaldo ??

[@Ind0nesiannationalteamgoated]

my friend has so much trouble and stress when trying to save my penalties. And yes, I am left footed

[@RuiFD]

Purely down to Salah and Cole Palmer

[@00dude3]

Why has Jon turned into Philomena Cunk

[@iluvjumblies]

I feel like grammatically it should be 'why left footed penalties are better' - unless you can also hit them with your third leg.

[@aman4434]

I am right handed but somehow as a kid started playing football left footed lol.

[@ildile8248]

KZbin recommend me this video 1 day after giroud and theo miss a penalty in the same game. Ty I guess

[@jager991]

Cole palmer

[@vickirin]

Where is Joe Devine ?

[@paulanthonymorrisjr]

Tell that to Harry Kane

[@nano3581]

nah no way, in shootouts the left footers always miss.

[@TokenBlackman7]

Lefties, stand UP!

[@StrawCurrent]

Salah got two chances to score a penalty against Newcastle he missed one and scored one so what about that stat they fraudulently got a second penalty so does that help the stat 👀

[@fernandoalves921]

How are penalties fair for goalkeepers?

[@raycath0de]

who are the premier leagues left footed penalty takers?

[@maxhanney4277]

Salah Saka Odegaard Haaland etc

[@christopherflux6254]

This is even true on FIFA

[@tanaka5395]

Left footed penalty takers look awkward always make me nervous.

[@MethicalYT]

nice video as per usual, but isn't the reason why left footed pens are "better" common sense?

[@MyBeatrsRyrHeatrs]

FM does not agree 😂

[@MrBILLkk]

Makes you realise that Patrick Bamford is one of a kind.

[@Something_Random7]

This is a w I am left footed