[Football] Composure - in front of goal. What is it? Can it be learned?

[Eric the meek]

I see Maupay has just missed a good chance for Everton against Liverpool. I heard the pundit say 'he lacked composure'.

We hear this term all the time. 'He lacked composure' when a player misses, and 'He showed great composure' when he scores.
We never hear 'he showed great composure and put it in the stands'.

But what is composure? Why is it so important?

We joke on here 'we'll train that out of him', but why can't we train it in?

 

[KZNSeagull]

It's staying calm and making the correct split second decisions under pressure. Self-confidence plays a massive part too, hence why the best at it often come across as arrogant. You either have it naturally or can learn it through a LOT of practice and experience. It is not something that most would be able to do having not been on a pitch for weeks.

 

[Berty23]

I think of it like golf. Some people stand over a three foot putt and just knock it in. Others get all wobbly armed or legs and fold. It is exactly the same. Key pressure moment and executing a skill. A key role here for a sports psychologist I think. Someone like Bob Rotella who worked with Darren Clarke.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

I simply put it down to having the ability to know what to do and when. How often have we said he had too much time to think about it? It's having that vision of the outcome. Take March's one on one, if you gave him that another 99 times how many would he score? Not many I'd hazard a guess as he doesn't show the belief of a frequent scorer.

 

[Baldseagull]

Throw darts at a dartboard at home, you will feel composed, go to the pub and do it with a crowd watching in a match, you will feel the difference. Unless you have had a couple of pints and are at the "cocky" stage of alcohol intoxication.

 

[Baldseagull]

I watched the Premier League Stories episode on Mark Noble last night, he visited his old school and his teacher said he remembered Noble was terrified of saying a few words as he received an award at school, but would step forward to take a Pen in a cup final at Wembley no problem. It's just where you feel confident enough to not worry too much about getting it wrong, which then makes you get it wrong. Tons of practice and a bit of luck at getting it right in the past in real situations.

I believe there was a test done by neuroscientists where they asked a group of footballers to take ten penaltys as practice for a penalty competition, and another group to imagine scoring ten penalties, each one in detail, apparently the group that imagined success had better actual success in the competition, they had no failures to reference in their recent memory, whereas most of those that did actual practice had had some misses.

 

[Eric the meek]

I watched the Premier League Stories episode on Mark Noble last night, he visited his old school and his teacher said he remembered Noble was terrified of saying a few words as he received an award at school, but would step forward to take a Pen in a cup final at Wembley no problem. It's just where you feel confident enough to not worry too much about getting it wrong, which then makes you get it wrong. Tons of practice and a bit of luck at getting it right in the past in real situations.

I believe there was a test done by neuroscientists where they asked a group of footballers to take ten penaltys as practice for a penalty competition, and another group to imagine scoring ten penalties, each one in detail, apparently the group that imagined success had better actual success in the competition, they had no failures to reference in their recent memory, whereas most of those that did actual practice had had some misses.

That sounds an interesting test. Imagine the successful outcome, and then execute it. Success, even though it is in your mind, breeds success.

I know that golfers imagine a line from the ball to the pin all the time. I assume the most successful goalscorers do something similar.

 

[Weststander]

No.

 

[Icy Gull]

Can we send Solly on a course?

 

[Me and my Monkey]

I reckon if I was as tall, young and athletic as Haaland, and had the same merry disposition, and was a bloke, I could do that too. Easy.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I simply put it down to having the ability to know what to do and when. How often have we said he had too much time to think about it? It's having that vision of the outcome. Take March's one on one, if you gave him that another 99 times how many would he score? Not many I'd hazard a guess as he doesn't show the belief of a frequent scorer.

I think it's a skill that can only be improved from experience in match conditions.
I bet Solly puts enough of those away in training to lead the coaches to believe he has the ability to play up front.

Solly has been played on the left for most of the past 5 or 6 seasons.
Now he's being played on the right he's having more shooting opportunities.

He averaged less than 1 shot per game in the last 3 seasons.. He is doubling that now.
In theory his composure should improve, if he carries on getting the chances.

Here's hoping!

 

[zefarelly]

It's an interesting subject. And the key to perfomance and results at virtually everything the world over.

SOme things I just do and don't bat an eyelid about . . .but can be a gibbering sweating nervous wreck at some things other people just waltz . .can walk as relaxed as anything on any stage with a bass guitar . . . Sing a bit . . .but not very good chatting to an audience . . And its on record I'm woeful in front of a camera!

Deciphering it and understanding, to the point you can help is an industry in itself.

Being calm/confident/composed is a key part of top level football . . . And the reason NM is an Everton player ( IMHO)

 

[Bakero]

I watched the Premier League Stories episode on Mark Noble last night, he visited his old school and his teacher said he remembered Noble was terrified of saying a few words as he received an award at school, but would step forward to take a Pen in a cup final at Wembley no problem. It's just where you feel confident enough to not worry too much about getting it wrong, which then makes you get it wrong. Tons of practice and a bit of luck at getting it right in the past in real situations.

I believe there was a test done by neuroscientists where they asked a group of footballers to take ten penaltys as practice for a penalty competition, and another group to imagine scoring ten penalties, each one in detail, apparently the group that imagined success had better actual success in the competition, they had no failures to reference in their recent memory, whereas most of those that did actual practice had had some misses.

I don't know much about sports psychology but visualisation has been a thing for years. Here's Wayne Rooney talking about it in 2012 https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...may/17/wayne-rooney-visualisation-preparation

 

[Deleted member 2719]

I think Maupay always applies too much pressure on himself, great when it's going well, a nightmare when it isn't.

It's just a mindset thing if you have the ability IMO.

Perhaps changing Neals's mindset is "complicated".

 

[WATFORD zero]

If only there was a single answer.

I have always though that most great teams have a few youngsters who have no idea of the implications of what they are doing and that some of the greats are the same for exactly the same reason. They do what they've always done without any thought of what the implications are and this completely blind confidence particularly applies to strikers.

However, Murray and Welbeck are great examples of mature intelligent individuals who understand how important every touch of the ball is to a striker.

So, in conclusion, I have no f***ing idea

But Evan looks like he might have it (no pressure)

 

[Eric the meek]

It's an interesting subject. And the key to perfomance and results at virtually everything the world over.

SOme things I just do and don't bat an eyelid about . . .but can be a gibbering sweating nervous wreck at some things other people just waltz . .can walk as relaxed as anything on any stage with a bass guitar . . . Sing a bit . . .but not very good chatting to an audience . . And its on record I'm woeful in front of a camera!

Deciphering it and understanding, to the point you can help is an industry in itself.

Being calm/confident/composed is a key part of top level football . . . And the reason NM is an Everton player ( IMHO)

On the button. And that will be after years of being subject to Potter's coaching and emotional intelligence training.

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Tiger woods lost his composure IMO, it wasn't just down to injuries, his head was shot to pieces even when on the course which should have come naturally to him.

 

[Hugo Rune]

I think Maupay always applies too much pressure on himself, great when it's going well, a nightmare when it isn't.

It's just a mindset thing if you have the ability IMO.

Perhaps changing Neals's mindset is "complicated".

I agree. The more Neal thinks about scoring, the less effective. He is best at technically difficult chances that he’s not had enough time to think about.

I don’t think he’ll ever change.

 

[Justice]

I think Maupay always applies too much pressure on himself, great when it's going well, a nightmare when it isn't.

It's just a mindset thing if you have the ability IMO.

Perhaps changing Neals's mindset is "complicated".

Who cares, Everton’s problem now they’ve already started on another day he buries those the poor souls.

 

[Icy Gull]

I think it's a skill that can only be improved from experience in match conditions.
I bet Solly puts enough of those away in training to lead the coaches to believe he has the ability to play up front.

Solly has been played on the left for most of the past 5 or 6 seasons.
Now he's being played on the right he's having more shooting opportunities.

He averaged less than 1 shot per game in the last 3 seasons.. He is doubling that now.
In theory his composure should improve, if he carries on getting the chances.

Here's hoping!

I think he will score regularly once he gets a couple. He is a very skilful player lacking in confidence in front of goal