Standing still can be the most active choice.

Top corner finishes are thrilling.

Slide-rule through-balls are awe-inspiring.

Tricksy skills are great fun.

Crunching tackles are invigorating.

Finger-tip saves are gasp-inducing.

But one of the most impressive techniques involves doing nothing at all.

‘The dummy’ is the ancient footballing art of standing still.

It involves making as if to receive the ball, inducing in your opponent the belief you’ll control it, pass it or shoot it, only to let it evade you completely so that, unbeknownst to your opponent, your team mate (who was entering the space behind you) can receive the ball in a more effective position.

Essentially, it means doing nothing.

And it can be the most delightful moment in a match.

The purest act of footballing intelligence.

Because it takes you completely by surprise.

And yet once it’s happened, it seems like it was inevitable all along.

Like the greatest dramatic moments.

And it’s incredibly difficult to do.

The dummy requires a huge amount of effort.

Imagination.

Anticipation.

Courage.

Humility.

Selflessness.

And self-control.

Because we are biased towards action.

Like the goalkeepers who dive for penalties when the statistics say it’s more likely to go straight down the middle.

We will choose doing something over doing nothing.

Because if it goes wrong we can say at least we tried.

But if we do nothing and it doesn’t work it looks like we didn’t try at all.

If we stand still for the penalty and it goes in the top corner we’ll look foolish.

But doing nothing is still doing something.

And sometimes, it’s the best thing to do.

So the next time you feel yourself defaulting to action, ask yourself; what if I dummied this one?

What would happen if you did nothing at all?

Might that just be the most active and effective choice you could make?