In sum, there has been an increasing number of studies examining the role
of both pre- and post-performance nonverbal behaviors in sport contexts demonstrating
the important role that such facets of behavior have on performance. In
one study that is of particular importance to the present article, Greenlees et al.
(2008) examined the impact of two different pre-performance factors—point of
gaze and clothing color—on the impressions formed by goalkeepers of out!eld
players during the penalty kick situation in soccer. Results demonstrated that
penalty takers displaying 90% gaze—looking at the goalkeeper for 90% of their
pre-performance time before penalty run-up—were judged as being more likely
to execute accurate penalty kicks in comparison with penalty takers displaying
only 10% gaze. Moreover, penalty takers wearing red clothing were associated
with more positive impressions in comparison with white clothing. However, the
goalkeepers’ expectancy of success in saving penalty kicks was only affected by
clothing color when considered in tandem with penalty taker gaze. Specifically,
clothing color had no effect for the 90% gaze condition, whereas, in the 10% gaze
condition, goalkeepers expected to have greater success against players in the white
uniform in comparison with those in red clothing.