Chloe Kelly's penalty technique explained – Why does the England forward lift her left knee into the air before taking spot kicks?

Just like in 2022, Chloe Kelly was the decisive factor for England in a Euros final triumph.

The Arsenal winger had come off the bench to turn the game against Sweden in the quarter-finals, playing a huge part in creating England's goals as they came back from 2-0 down before winning on penalties; Kelly scored her own spot kick when missing would have spelt elimination.

Kelly then won the game for England in extra-time in the semi-finals, with her last-minute penalty saved only for the 27 year old to tuck home the rebound.

Kelly set up Alessia Russo to equalise against Spain in Sunday's final - and once the game went to a shootout, there was a sense of inevitability that it would come down to Kelly to win it for England. She did exactly that, firing past Cata Coll to ensure England retained their Euros crown.

All three of Kelly's penalties this summer have been taken the same distinctive way, and we expect that kids up and down parks around the country will be imitating Kelly's unique penalty method over the next few weeks. Probably a few adults, too.

So what is the method behind Kelly's penalty technique?

1) The ball twirl: Take your time

They couldn't hear him, of course, but ITV pundit Ian Wright implored the Lionesses to take their time over their penalties against Spain.

Wright felt that England's patchiness in the shootout against Sweden was partly a result of some players rushing too much.

There's never any issue with that when it comes to Kelly, though. Each time she steps up from 12 yards, she always holds the ball, has a good, hard look at the goal, and then places it down on the spot - but only after rotating the ball with her hands a few times in the process.

Kelly herself admitted she doesn't know where she picked up the habit, telling BBC Sport: "I don’t know, to be honest. The coaches actually asked me that the other day. I don’t know where it came from but it’s what works for me and it’s my routine so I just stick with it."

2) The hop, skip and jump: Trust your methods

Having placed the ball down, Kelly steps back and begins her run up with a one-footed leap into the air, which has commonly (but slightly fancifully) come to be called the 'hop, skip and jump' technique.

Again, Kelly is at a loss to explain where that actually comes from - but it's almost immaterial, and she gave a hint after the final as to why it is important to her.

It all comes down to perhaps the most crucial factor in taking a successful penalty: confidence.

That didn't work out against Italy - even if Kelly immediately tucked away the rebound - but the best way to bounce back is by keeping faith in your method.

Kelly told the BBC after the final: "I was adamant I wasn't missing two on the bounce. I was cool. I was composed then. I knew I was gonna hit the back of the net. I don't miss penalties twice."

3) The finish: Keep them guessing and hit the target

Of course, all those theatrics only end up making you look incredibly daft if you sky your penalty in the stands.

Kelly's run-up style means she is not telegraphing where she is going to put the ball, and having erred against Italy, she changed her tack for the last kick of Euro 2025.

Coll followed Laura Giuliani's lead by diving low to her right, but Kelly was banking on exactly that, instead smashing her effort over the keeper and into the top corner.

Had Coll gone higher, she might have got to it - it was hardly postage stamp accurate - but Kelly took the calculated gamble that Giuliani would go low and placed her penalty high enough to find the net without running the risk of flying over the crossbar.

Patience, confidence, and technique: Kelly's penalty taking method has it all.