The science behind Harry Kane’s genius – it’s much more than just fitness

It was only a matter of time before Tottenham Hotspur and England striker Harry Kane broke Jimmy Greaves’ record to become the club’s all-time top goalscorer. On 5 February 2023, he scored his 267th goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Manchester City to break Greaves’ record.

In doing so, Kane also joined an illustrious group – the men’s Premier League ‘200 Club’. Few would surpass Wayne Rooney’s 208 Premier League goals this season and chase Alan Shearer’s 260 to take the top spot in the years to come.

But things haven’t always gone smoothly for Kane. Early in his career he struggled with relatively unsuccessful loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester. And his humble early goals and injuries left many fans struggling to believe he would become one of football’s all-time greats.

So why did Kane call him the best striker the Premier League has ever seen?

Kane, Rooney and Shearer are very different strikers. Kane tends to sink into midfield to show off his playing skills, but rarely misses a chance to hit the target from the 18-yard box.

Rooney sped around the field, winning challenges and dogfights while being deadly in front of goal. Shearer, on the other hand, was rarely seen outside the opposing 18-yard box – but any attempt inside would likely hit the back of the net. All three have shown the mentality of a champion.

Kane’s mentality

An important aspect of any elite athlete is how well they perform under immense pressure. Football does not differ from other top sports in that it puts a psychological strain on the players. Given the popularity of the Premier League around the world, football players can experience more excitement than other top sports.

A psychological explanation for Kane’s success can be found in the concept of “challenge and threat states,” which explores why some athletes perform better than others under pressure.

When under immense pressure, we evaluate the imminent demands of a task to our resources to accomplish it. When the perception of our resources outweighs the demands of the task, we experience a state of “challenge”. But when the demands exceed our means, we fall into a “threatening” state.

Kane faces many challenges in every game: opponents who want to undo his influence, reporters who may be unimpressed by previous achievements, spectators who may try to intimidate him. Bad training weeks can also make him doubt his abilities. Yet he often overcomes these demands with tremendous belief in his physical abilities and capabilities.

The emergence of a challenge state is important because it is known to lead to better performance than a threat state. This has proven itself both in the short and long term in football, cricket and golf. A challenge state results in better performance because fewer resources are spent on “over-thinking,” allowing for better decision-making and focus.

Setbacks, obstacles and failures are part of the sport and Kane is not immune. Injuries at various points in his career and persistent rumors about his lack of fitness and form may have left Kane wondering if it was worth dealing with those setbacks. But the Tottenham player has shown incredible resilience and psychological resilience.

Kane’s style of play and decision making

In addition to his challenge mentality, Kane is also good at making the right decision at the right time. As a centre-forward, he needs to make quick and precise decisions, whether it’s on defensive passes or coming late into the penalty area.

Research has shown that top athletes make more accurate and faster decisions than their less strong opponents.

One possible explanation for how Kane manages to make quick and accurate decisions is his ability to filter out irrelevant information.

When making a defensive pass, identifying the start of your teammate’s forward movement and the defender’s position is much more relevant than the movement of a non-target player or crowd noises. And research has shown that successfully paying attention to relevant information and ignoring irrelevant signals leads to better performance.

Kane has also mastered the art of “seeing” rather than “looking”. In other words, he is able to frequently switch between competing areas of focus and ensure that each gets the right amount of attention.

The ability to handle multiple relevant sources of information simultaneously and to pay sufficient attention to each to quickly assimilate and process the information is an exceptional skill. Kane’s ability to see spaces, anticipate the movements of teammates and opponents, and pay attention only to relevant information allows him to be in the right place at the right time with exceptional regularity.

Ultimately, the biggest factors in Kane’s success are his mindset and his ability to make informed, informed decisions very quickly at key moments in a game. In years to come, these factors are sure to lead many other professional footballers, pundits and fans to name Kane as one of the greatest footballers the Premier League has ever seen.