How Goalkeepers Had to Adapt to Defending Penalty Shootouts Over Penalty Strokes Over Time

Hockey has evolved over the decades and the way game is played has undergone significant changes. Hockey goalkeepers also have to adapt to the changing demands of the sport. For over close to four decades, the penalty stroke rule was in place for matches that end in a tie (penalty stroke rule was first introduced at the 1972 Munich Olympics in the 11th-place classification match when Poland defeated France). The penalty stroke rule mandated players to take the stroke from 6.4 metres away from the centre of the goal. The general line of thought was that the old penalty stroke rule in deadlocked games had a higher luck quotient and involved less of skills of the striker and the goalkeeper.