Football: Shooting A Penalty Kick

I used to play soccer in high school but that was the last, until I was picked to play as a goalkeeper in my college team. I have to admit, college football (or soccer if you don't want to get confused with the term) is way, way advanced than high school games. Anyway, at the end of the game, the score was tied 1-1 and we had to play for penalty kick. Again, I was picked as one of the players who will take the penalty kick. To cut the story short, I hit the ball on target but it went directly towards the goalkeeper for a save. What I learned from that experience is that no matter how well I played during high school, jumping off the couch to kick a penalty kick is not the best thing to do. Of course, I will not end this on a sad note, at least on my part. Because just like a good Cinderella story, I had my redemption. The next game was a d‚j... vu. But I swore to myself that I will not repeat the same mistake I had a game before where I kicked the ball straight to the goalkeeper. On the second time, I stood 12 yards from the goalkeeper, looked at him at the eye and thought of my next move. I wanted to fake the shot and kick it casually on the direction opposite to the goalkeeper's movement. But that's not what I wanted for an ending. I wanted a strong kick that will put the goalie in shame, at least in my opinion. So I took 3 steps backward and run towards the ball. I kicked it as hard as possible and gave it a spin to the right. The ball swirled to the right and hit the upper right corner of the goal post before bouncing off and going in. I scored. My team won. Scoring a penalty kick is not as easy as it may seem. It involves a lot of concentration and constant practice. It might sound like a remedial but the best way to shoot a penalty kick is to hit it hard directly to the upper or lower corners of the goal post. This way, it is impossible for the goalkeeper who is usually standing in the middle of the goal to go for a save. Staying calm and ignoring the goalkeeper are also important. The pressure is so much but the kicker must stay focused. By the way, in case you want to know, we won the first shootout thanks to my teammates.
Related Articles:

• Football: Soccer Positions
• Football/Soccer: Yellow And Red Cards
• Football: Special Team
• Football Turnovers
• Football: Understanding Soccer Free Kicks
• Football: What Is The Line Of Scrimmage?
• Football: What To Do On A Fourth Down?
• Players On The Field