CNN.com - Score one for science - May 5, 2006: "'Science is important in terms of winning matches,' said Bray, author of a book on the science behind soccer called 'How to Score.'Oops! Heaven forbid that one should play a sport, instead of being directed from someone without the physical ability to perform said movements. I quit watching football when the quarterback became just another position that took orders on the field instead of using his mental faculties to go along with the ability to throw a football to a specific place at the correct time.
Bray has analyzed memorable games over the past 50 years and applied research in physics, biology, computing and psychology to the beautiful game.
Using biomechanics to calculate the absolute reach of a goalkeeper diving to try to save a penalty, Bray has identified an area near the posts and in the top corners where the goalkeeper cannot reach as the 'unsaveable zone.'
'If a player were to place the ball in those regions, which are 28-30 percent of the goal area, there is not a sniff that the goalkeeper can do to get across to them,' explained Bray, from the University of Bath in England.
He advised goalkeepers to move before the kick is taken because if they wait, the ball will be halfway to the goal before they can react.
He said that where the striker places and points his standing foot is a good clue to where the ball will go.
'It's been shown that in about 85 percent of cases the direction in which that foot points is the direction of the shot,' he told a news conference in London."
Good luck with that idea. Practice is the real key, science just shows you why, when it comes to sports. Plus, sometimes heart and intuition can make up for a lack of knowledge.
Or steroids.
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