General Ability and Specialization: Evidence From Penalty Kicks in Soccer
- 15 August 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Sports Economics
- Vol. 12 (1), 81-105
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002510371194
Abstract
This article revisits the 2 × 2 penalty kick game and seeks to explain differences in mixed strategies associated with different player types and the relative performance of these player types. The authors show that (a) a kicker’s general ability is a reliable indicator of his success rate, (bi) a kicker’s specialization rate increases with his general ability, and (c) left-footed kickers who present a minority within the total population are characterized by a higher success rate. Consequently, the authors establish that more able kickers show a higher degree of specialization. Their greater specialization, however, has neither an adverse nor a beneficial impact on their success rate. All the theoretical predictions are in line with empirical evidence from the German national soccer league.Keywords
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