How Ivan Toney mastered penalties with rarely-seen training technique that sparked Brentford star’s incredible record
IT is no secret that one of the greatest weapons in Ivan Toney's attacking arsenal is his proficiency at scoring penalties.
Toney has an astonishing conversion rate of 93 per cent from 12 yards, scoring 28 of his 30 career penalties.
Indeed, six of the 20 goals Toney scored for the Bees last season came from the spot.
And it begs the question, what is the secret behind his success?
It is composure under pressure? A pre-penalty routine? Or just blind luck?
Well, it turns out his success actually goes back to what he does in training while practising his famous two-step penalty technique.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
As revealed by Bob Jeffrey, a goalkeeping director at Tennessee Soccer Club who worked with Toney in Nashville the USA over the summer, the striker has a peculiar method.
Rather than taking his penalties from 12 yards out, Toney literally goes the extra yard by taking his spot-kicks from 13 yards out.
Speaking to , Jeffrey explained: "It was fascinating to watch.
"Because in practice he takes them from 13 yards, not 12 yards.
Most read in Football
“I asked him: ‘Ivan, why are you taking them from 13 yards?’ He said, ‘Well, when it comes to a game, and I take them from 12 yards, the goal looks bigger.’”
The penalty practice came as extra work during three visits Toney made to the states with trainer Allan Russell.
On working with £100million-rated Toney, Jeffrey added: "He was a pleasure to work with, a pleasure to talk to and get to know.
"But the thing that impressed me most was the detail in everything [Toney] did. He never went through the motions. It was like every single shot was to win the World Cup."
Toney then returned to Brentford and embarked on a 16-week training programme prepared by Thomas Frank and his staff to get the striker back to up to fitness.
During his comeback following an eight-month suspension for betting rule breaches, Toney has impressed featuring for Brentford B.
He recently scored a hat-trick against Southampton Under-21's and netted a panenka penalty against Brondby.
Toney is in line for his first Premier League game since May on Saturday, when Brentford host Nottingham Forest.
Transfer interest has not stopped during his absence from the football pitch, with Chelsea hovering for a possible deal.
And Toney himself refused to rule out a transfer away from the club this month, telling : "I don't know. You can never predict when's the right time to move elsewhere.
"But it's obvious I want to play for a top club, everyone wants to play for a top club and fight for titles.
"Whether it's this January that is the right time for a club to come in and pay the right money, who knows."
“I asked him: ‘Ivan, why are you taking them from 13 yards?’ He said, ‘Well, when it comes to a game, and I take them from 12 yards, the goal looks bigger.’”
Bob Jeffrey, on Ivan Toney
However, Frank is "99 per cent confident" Toney will stay at Brentford until the summer.
SunSport revealed in November how Toney was torn over the idea of a winter transfer, feeling he has a debt to repay to Brentford for sticking by him.
And Toney has reflected this by admitting he got "goosebumps" from hearing fans sing his name even after months of inaction.
He said: "Frank has been nothing but the biggest help I could have asked for.
"The whole club has - from putting extra sessions on for me, from taking their time out to put a session on and go outside when it's raining, when they're not supposed to be in.
"I have a lot to repay them and I can't wait to try and do that.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"The fans were behind me. Even when I wasn't at their games, they were singing my name.
"A friend of mine sent me a video of the fans singing my name. I got goosebumps to know that they're still behind me, even though I'm not there."
TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: All the latest transfer deals from around the world this January