The effects of different types of crowd noise on penalty taking performance in football

Oldfield, Jeremy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-118X, Oldfield, Rob and Holmes, Danny (2024) The effects of different types of crowd noise on penalty taking performance in football. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. pp. 1-18. ISSN 1612-197X

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Abstract

Crowd noise impacts sporting performance, although little is known about this effect on penalty taking in football. This study explored the effect of crowd noise (positive, negative, stress-inducing, or no sound) on penalty-taking performance (accuracy and ball speed), and whether psychological skills contributed to this relationship. Twenty-four footballers took 20 unopposed penalties (with no goalkeeper present) whilst listening to pre-recoded crowd noises (5 penalties per the four conditions, presented in a counterbalanced order). After each condition, the same 16-item psychological skill questionnaire was completed by participants that measured, self-talk, imagery, relaxation, and emotional control. The results indicated that penalty-taking accuracy, although not ball speed was worse when listening to negative crowd noise. Self-talk is used more by players who were less accurate, and no psychological skill was able to moderate any negative effects of noise type on penalty taking. Encouraging players to train under different crowd noises might enhance performance and decision-making when in competition.