First, let me say that I don’t know much about soccer. I enjoy watching it every four years, but to say that I’m a casual fan is an overstatement.
But I was watching the US women’s team in the final against the Netherlands, and the role of the goalkeeper struck me. Not the pressure, or the long periods when she has to be alert but mostly inactive. What I noticed was what happens when a member of the opposing team squares up for a penalty kick.
The goalkeeper has to decide, in a split second, what the kicker is going to do. She has to commit to blocking that shot in one direction or another, with no more information than the way that the kicker is running up to the ball. She has to make the decision and go with it.
In this game, the phenomenal Netherlands goalkeeper, Sari van Veenendaal, was facing off against Megan Rapinoe for what could be the first point of the game (at the 61 minute mark.) Rapinoe jogged towards the ball, then, seemingly as relaxed as she would be in her own backyard, kicked it right past van Veenendaal, who barely moved.
Now, I have absolutely no idea what was going through van Veenendaal’s mind as Rapinoe’s foot made contact with the ball. But what I thought of was the price of indecision. When there are more choices than we can explore, sometimes we are paralyzed; we can’t move forward for fear that the choice we make will be the wrong one. What seems clear, though, is that the longer we take to decide, the fewer options we have, until the ball goes right by us into the net.
Commit. Even if that decision isn’t the very best one, it puts you in motion.
