penalty area 18 yards to the side from the goalposts and 18 yards to the depth of the court the goalkeeper can play with his hands in his own goal area if the defending player in his own penalty area commits an offense punished elsewhere by a direct free kick, the penalty kick is ordered that the penalty area is marked by a rectangle previously sprinkled with white loose paint and that inside this rectangle there is another smaller, the so-called goal area or "small lime" (6 yards to the side of the goal posts and 6 yards to the depth of the court)