Ground reaction forces and kinematics of plant leg position during instep kicking in male and female collegiate soccer players

Abstract

The players' ability to achieve the greatest distance in kicking is determined by their efficiency in transferring kinetic energy from the body to the ball. The purpose of this study was to compare the kinetics and kinematics of the plant leg position between male and female collegiate soccer players during instep kicking. Twenty-three soccer players (11 males and 12 females) were filmed in both the sagittal and posterior views while performing a maximal instep kick. Plant leg kinetic data were also collected using an AMTI 1000 force platform. There were no significant differences between the sexes in plant leg position, but females had significantly greater trunk lean, plant leg angle, and medial-lateral ground reaction force than the males. Males showed higher vertical ground reaction forces at ball contact, but there were no significant differences in ball speed at take-off between the sexes. Ball speed at take-off was inversely related to peak anterior-posterior ground reaction force (-0.65). The anatomical differences between the sexes were reflected in greater trunk lean and lower leg angle in the females.

Effect of hamstring injuries on kicking in football = Efecto de las lesiones de los isquiotibiales en el golpeo del fútbol

“…The values reported were also greater than the values reported by Orloff et al (2008) in amateur players and similar to values reported by Juarez et al (2011) in elite youth players. The ground reaction forces are almost three times the body weight, and this greater force perhaps contributes to a greater ball velocity in professional soccer players.…”

“…Several differences in kick biomechanics between male and female players have been reported in the literature (Barfield et al, 2002;Katis et al, 2015;Orloff et al, 2008;Sakamoto & Asai, 2013;Shan, 2009). Previous studies have found lower ball velocity (Barfield et al, 2002;Katis et al, 2015;Shan, 2009) and lower joint velocities (Barfield et al, 2002) in females compared to males.…”

“…Previous studies have found lower ball velocity (Barfield et al, 2002;Katis et al, 2015;Shan, 2009) and lower joint velocities (Barfield et al, 2002) in females compared to males. These differences are accompanied by altered kinetic characteristics (Lyle, Sigward, Tsai, Pollard, & Powers, 2011) of both limbs as well as differences in placement of the support foot placement (Orloff et al, 2008) between sexes. There is a lack of published literature about the difference in kinetics of the kicking technique across sex.…”

“…Several three-dimensional biomechanical studies have investigated the instep kicking of a stationary ball as hard as possible in male soccer players (Kellis & Katis, 2007;Lees, Asai, Bull-Andersen, Nunome, & Sterzing, 2010;Navandar et al, 2013;Nunome, Asai, Ikegami, & Sakurai, 2002;Nunome, Ikegami, et al, 2006;Nunome, Lake, Georgakis, & Stergioulas, 2006) although, in a minor quantity, there have also been studies analysing the instep kicking pattern in female soccer players (Alcock, Gilleard, Hunter, Baker, & Brown, 2012;Barfield, Kirkendall, & Yu, 2002;Katis, Kellis, & Lees, 2015;Orloff et al, 2008;Shan, Daniels, Wang, Wutzke, & Lemire, 2005).…”

“…This is a well-known mechanical principle but, in addition, cocking of the kicking leg produces a stretch-shorten cycle, responsible for maximizing the extension moment and work done at the knee joint (Dorge et al, 2002). Just before the knee reaches maximal flexion, the support limb is planted near the ball and it reaches a peak force which is about 2.5 to 3.8 times the body weight of the player (Juarez, López de Subijana, Mallo, & Navarro, 2011;Orloff et al, 2008).…”