Diver’s will never be able to get away with it again.Dr Paul Morris, of the University of Portsmouth says that he has cracked the code. He believes that he has perfected the art of detecting when a foul is not a foul but a dive and has identified the telltale sign of the perpetrator. It is called the “Archer’s Bow” and recognising it, Morris hopes, could help referees to spot a faker immediately.
The Archer’s Bow involves the following — the holding up of both arms in the air, with open palms, chest thrust out, legs bent at the knee in an “Archer’s Bow” position.
Take a look at Rooney’s effort here.A classic Archer’s bow – or as near to it as you can get.

“This occurs in many dives but, biomechanically, it does not occur in a natural fall,” Morris said. “Instead, instinctively, the arms either go down in an attempt to cushion the fall or out to the side for balance.Although this behaviour is absurd, the fraudulent footballer does it to try to deceive the referee into believing that the tackle was illegal. The histrionics are necessary to get the referee’s attention. Moving the body like this is completely controlled behaviour, so it clearly doesn’t show a genuine fall. The moment both arms go above the shoulder is a clear indication of deception. This behaviour has no national boundaries; everyone does it.”
Now take a look at Drogba’s technique.Fully aware that refs who have read Dr Morris will be looking for arms above the shoulder – he keeps them well below while diving.It’s a half archer’s bow.Fiendishly clever.

Being a ref is no picnic.Read more about Dr Morris and his research into diving here..