Penalty Shootouts in Various Sports: Football, Ice-Hockey, Hockey, Polo, Rugby and Even Cricket
The penalty shootout is one of the most exciting features that take place in any sport. Most sports fans associate penalty shootouts and penalty kicks with football, where players have been known to give Oscar-winning theatrical dive performances in order to secure a penalty. However, a lot of people do not know that penalties and penalty shootouts are also a feature of hockey, ice hockey, water polo, polo, handball, rugby and even cricket; yes even cricket. At the end of a contest, if a game is tied, instead of continuing the match until one team eventually wins, the simple solution is to have a sudden death type short contest where the winner can be easily decided. This interesting method of determining a winner needs to be studied in more depth.
The first penalty shootout was not held until 1966 by FIFA and UEFA. There were instances when penalty shootouts were used in domestic football and minor tournaments. They were held in the Yugoslav Cup in 1952 and the Italia Cup in the 1958-59 season. During the olden times in football, there used to be the concept of replayed matches instead of determining a winner then and there. Soon the concept of replayed matches went out of fashion and penalty shootouts came into being. With the concept becoming popular, it started to be used in many different sports. It was a very easy and quick way to determine a winner after a tied game. Shots would be taken to the best of five and would continue until a team eventually won. The concept was so simple and effective that it became the norm all over the world. The one negative aspect of the format is that a lot of people say that it does not accurately reflect the better team in the overall competition, but only shows which team has the better penalty takers.
In field hockey, the same concept as football prevails; a period of extra time will take place with a golden goal rule in place. If the scores are still level after the period of extra time, a penalty shootout will be held. In ice hockey, the system is that a certain number of players take turns taking penalty shots, and the team with the most goals at the end of the shootout wins. In water polo, a group of five players and a goalkeeper is chosen from each team and they take turns trying to score goals. In polo, penalties are taken during the game for infractions caused. The penalties are numbered 1 to 10 going up in turn of infraction caused. Penalty 1 is when a goal is awarded to the team on whom the foul is committed. Penalties 2 to 5 are the most common in the game; these penalties are taken from 30 yards for penalty 2, 40 yards for penalty 3, 60 yards for penalty 4 and a shot from where the infraction occurred or from midfield for penalty 5.
The sport that most people do not associate a penalty shootout with is cricket. In the game of cricket, a bowl out is sometimes used in the sport to determine the winner of a tied game. A bowl out consists of 5 bowlers from each team bowling 2 balls each at an unguarded wicket. The team that takes the most wickets wins at the end of the day. The difference in cricket is that a penalty ball is bowled to an unguarded wicket with no one standing in the way.
A penalty shootout is a very interesting aspect of a sport because it is effectively a mind-game that takes place between a shooter and a goaltender. If the player shooting can outwit the goaltender then they get closer to winning, but if the goaltender can figure out the tactic of the shooter, he can see his team closer to victory. A lot of stress and mental effort is used in penalty shootouts and sometimes the best players in the world can crumble under the pressure of taking a penalty shot during such a high-stake environment.
Penalty shootouts are a very simple and effective way to determine a winner of a tied game in sports. It is so effective that it has become the norm in a large number of sports. We will continue to see many tied games in the future due to increased levels of competition, and that will lead to many exciting penalty shootouts taking place.
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