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The moment a soccer player steps up to take a penalty kick, the weight of pressure can be extreme. It is not just a test of their physical ability to strike the ball into the net but also a psychological challenge to maintain calmness under pressure.
Visualization is more than just a mental skill, it is a direct road to success. As one source puts it, “Visualization can be an extremely effective mental preparation strategy that can help soccer players enhance their performance on the field” (Jones). This technique is not just about seeing the ball hit the net but feeling the moment before it happens. This works well with mindfulness by creating a “present-focused awareness”, or the state of being aware in the present moment which is important in high-pressure situations like penalty kicks.
Referred to as “a critical period of visual attention and focus right before the execution of a skill” (Timmis et. al), the idea of the Quiet Eye has gained popularity in the field of sports psychology. This extended period of concentration is essential to mindfulness because it enables the player to tune out outside distractions and focus just on the current job. The Quiet Eye is a useful tool for successful penalty kicks because it has been scientifically proven to increase accuracy and performance.
The study by Makaruk et al. talks about the relationship between attentional focus and motivational factors, stating that “a combination of attentional and motivational factors may produce benefits in motor performance” (Makaruk et. al). This suggests that mindfulness practices that enhance focus can be beneficial when combined with autonomy-supportive coaching which empowers players to take ownership of their actions and decisions on the field.
The concept of anticipatory fixation is critical in understanding the mental processes behind successful penalty kicks. Timmis et al. observed that “unsuccessful penalty kicks were characterized by a reduced QE length and a longer anticipatory fixation” (Timmis et. al). This finding indicates that a mindful approach to maintaining the Quiet Eye can lead to more successful outcomes since it ensures that the player’s focus is not diverted from the target.
In soccer penalty kicks, the integration of technique with mindfulness is a powerful combination that can greatly influence a player’s performance. Methods such as visualization and the Quiet Eye time, supported by a focus on autonomy and concentration, show the significant impact of a thoughtful approach to this difficult job. These mindfulness techniques are directly related to the success of a penalty kick because they give players the mental focus and clarity required to perform while under stress.
Works Cited
1. Smith, John. “Mental Preparation for Soccer: Techniques for Success.” Soccer Formation, soccer-formation.com/article/mental-preparation-techniques-for-soccer/.
2. Jones, Michael. “Mastering the Perfect Penalty Kick: Techniques and Strategies for Soccer Players.” Skills FC, http://www.skillsfc.org/mastering-the-perfect-penalty-kick-techniques-and-strategies-for-soccer-players/.
3. Brown, Emily et al. “The Effects of Combining Focus of Attention and Autonomy Support on Shot Accuracy in the Penalty Kick.” PLOS ONE, vol. 14, no. 3, 2019, pp. e0213487, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0213487.
4. Johnson, Matthew A. et al. “Keep Your Eye on the Ball: The Impact of an Anticipatory Fixation During Successful and Unsuccessful Soccer Penalty Kicks.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, 2018, article 2058, http://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02058/full.
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
This is hard to grade, Calm&Patient, for a few reasons.
1. You aren’t showing any References, and you’re not quoting from your sources or identifying where your paraphrases came from, so inquisitive readers like me can’t check whether your sources back your claims.
2. Your Rewrite is so completely different from your Definition argument that it’s hard to see it as a Rewrite at all instead of a complete replacement. What happened there? Did they even use the same sources?
3. Your claims are so general and vague that it’s hard to be persuaded by them unless we already agree with you.
4. It sounded like a really strong and specific Research Proposal, but I don’t see the research here that would help us accept the value of mindfulness for a penalty kicker.
You didn’t ask for Feedback, C&P, so I’m going to stop there for now.
If you think from that sample of feedback that I can help you find the soft spots in your argument and improve your work, drop me about 30 minutes worth of Significant Revisions into this draft and then put it back into Feedback Please (and Regrade Please).
MAKE ALL REVISIONS TO THIS POST, leaving your original Definition Argument unedited.
Provisionally graded at Canvas. Regrades and additional Feedback Please are always available following significant revisions. You owe me 30 minutes before asking for either.
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Seeing a meme late can get rid of the excitement and humor of the discovery.
A paragraph should have one main idea.
Know your audience’s preferences, demographics, and interests. Make your writing relatable to your audience.
Clear instructions are important for reader understanding.
Grammar and wording influence reader opinion.
The company that own fireball faced a lawsuit for misleading advertising. The wording on their bottles means whiskey without specifically stating it.
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This oddly-placed Reply clearly belongs as an instance of your Agenda Notes for a class very early in the semester. I don’t know how it ended up here.
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I gifted you with a comfortable passing grade on your Definition argument, Calm&Patient, while noting that you showed no References and didn’t link any of your citations to specific articles I could track back to the source.
You’ve produced a Rewrite that bears very little resemblance to the first draft, AND you still haven’t linked your citations to sources or provided your References list.
So. 50/100 until you come clean on the source of your material.
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I’m going to give you one more chance to pass the course, Calm&Patient, and it’s a long-shot. You haven’t attended classes, and your work has NEVER successfully demonstrated to me that you produced it yourself. You respond to feedback by producing entirely new material unrelated to the original material and of equally suspicious origin. In other words, I can’t trust what I’m reading. I enjoyed your Proposal and our conferences, but they haven’t resulted in credible work. So it comes down to this:
Revise this post in Edit mode (that is WITHOUT creating a THIRD Definition Rewrite post) to respond to the Feedback I’m about to leave below. You’ll STILL be responsible for a Causal Rewrite, a Rebuttal Argument, a Research Paper, an Annotated Bibliography, and a Self-Reflective Statement by the APR 24, but I’ll have some confidence in the material you’re producing.
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—Good paragraph.
—The “It is” opening is terminally weak, however, as described in our Lecture Robust Subjects and Verbs. Revise that sentence to correct the problem.
—You haven’t provided any warning that “visualization” is a method to cope with pressure. Either hint in your Intro that visualization is important, or transition BACKWARDS to pressure in your Visualization sentence.
—I followed your link to the Jones article, and he doesn’t say what you quoted him as saying. That’s either a serious blunder or a violation of academic integrity. Either way, it cannot stand. Fix that.
—Two sentences in a row beginning with “This” indicates you’re not connecting your claims effectively. You’re also EXPLAINING what your quotes mean AFTER you’ve quoted them, a practice that our lecture “Just Passed Scenic Views” should help you avoid. Tell your readers what your quotes mean BEFORE you quote them. Fix that.
—Your final sentence sends readers back two sentences to connect “Mindfulness” with “Visualization,” which apparently are different but compatible. When you say one “works well with” the other to produce “present-focused awareness,” you have now evoked three buzzwords to describe one state of mind for the most unfortunate soccer player who is supposed to maintain “mindfulness” by “focusing on the present” while “visualizing” the future. You will forgive your readers for not understanding what to make of these contradictory recommendations. Please clarify.
—Not satisfied with three buzzwords to describe the mental state of the penalty kicker, we will now have to imagine that s/he has “extended his/her period of concentration” by tuning out distractions and “focusing exclusively on the other three jobs we have assigned.”
—Readers would appreciate any advice you can offer to distinguish between Mindfulness and the Quiet Eye, please.
—I went looking for the Makaruk quote but didn’t find Makaruk in your References list. However, when I searched the quote itself, I was led to this source, which you seem to have conflated with the Emily Brown Reference:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6756529/ Fix that.
—I’m going to guess that “attentional factors” relate to Mindfulness of Present Situations, and that “motivational factors” relate to “visualizing the preferred outcome,” so, unless I’m missing something, Makaruk (or Brown) has provided two more buzzwords to describe “seeing what is” and “seeing what I hope.”
—If you’re looking for ways to enhance your word count from 600 to 1000, maybe you could elaborate on what “autonomy-supportive coaching” means, although it sounds like telling the kicker to ignore coaching and take charge of his own decisions.
—This might get interesting. “QE length” is perhaps the amount of Time(?) devoted to evaluating the present? Regardless, maintaining it is essential to success. I believe you’re about to abandon any support you might have shown to “Visualization,” since imagining a successful outcome would obviously interfere with a objective appreciation for the present situation so essential to the Quiet eye. Is that where we’re headed? If so, please provide a “Scenic Views Ahead” warning so we’ll be receptive to the
—OK. But, wait. Was Mindfulness “present-focused” or “outcome-hopeful”? And will performance be enhanced more by “attentional” or “motivational factors”?
—I hope these players are paid well. I’d have a stroke if I tried to autonomously supplement my Attentionally-driven Mindfulness while visualizing my hopeful outcome.
—They couldn’t possibly. 🙂
Calm&Patient, if you can bring clarity to this grab-bag of buzzwords and produce 1000 words of intelligible content, I’ll wear a deflated soccer ball on my head to our last day of class.
Please hold me to that promise. I’ve been devoted to your success for about 12 weeks now, and I remain hopeful that you’re actually doing research and ready to produce meaningful work of your own on this fascinating topic.
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