World Cup Insight: It’s The World Cup Of Penalties And Finally There Is An App For That!

The myKicks App Provides Its Users With Real-time Feedback On Penalty Kicks

Available to download now on iOS, the free myKicks app is a tech-packed (artificial intelligence and augmented reality) virtual football coaching app that helps players of all abilities, from the grassroots to the professional, make that all-important penalty kick count.

Since myKicks launched on June 22nd there have already been over 120,000 penalties recorded on the app, helping it to quickly rise to #1 on the App Store for Sports, dethroning the official FIFA World Cup app. The myKicks app provides its users with real-time feedback on penalty kicks as well as insights on how to improve their chance of a scoring a goal from the penalty spot. The myKicks app-algorithm is based upon careful analysis of over 10,000 professional penalties and assigns a probability of goal for every penalty taken by its app users based upon measuring the speed and placement of each shot.

Also Read: The Role of AI in FIFA World Cup 2018

The frequency of penalties has increased in this World Cup and with the introduction of the new Video Assistant Referee (VAR), there have already been 24 penalties awarded during the group phase. There were just 13 and 15 penalties awarded in over 64 matches in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Moreover, research has shown that if a side misses an awarded penalty, their chance of winning the match reduces to 29%.

During the knockout phase thus far, amazingly 36.8% (7/19) of penalties have been saved. The pros should be using myKicks to perfect their technique!

From July 8 to 15, football fans can try out their penalty kicking skills in a global competition, the myKicks Cup. Run through the myKicks app, users can play for their country against others in penalty shootouts to crown the best penalty taking nation (and individual) in the world. Individual winners will be awarded some of the world’s best football boots and balls every day of the competition.

Some of the largest and most famous English football influencers Miniminter, Chris MD, and Andrew Henderson have all been seen using the app to hone their penalties for the upcoming myKicks Cup. Henderson, a 5 x World Football Freestyle Champion (8 x England Champion), is a big fan of the app. “I’ve been filming and analyzing my penalties with the myKicks app over the last year. It tells me how likely I am to beat a top professional goalie with every penalty I take. The feedback I get practicing with the app is amazing – every English player should be using it given our woeful history in penalties.” Henderson says, adding, “I can’t wait to help turn around England’s misfortunes and take out the myKicks Cup!”

The England men’s professional team has not won a major tournament penalty shootout in close to 25 years.

During this year’s World Cup, myKicks’ Instagram page will analyze best professional penalties at this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Recommended Read: Why Influencers, Not Footballers Will Score for Brands During the 2018 FIFA World Cup