Football kick with laces movement analysis PDF

Preview

Summary

Biomechanical analysis of the footballs-specific laces kick...

Description

Football kick with laces movement analysis

Introduction In association football, more commonly know as football or soccer, kicking the ball with laces is the most common method to score a goal. It is also used for crosses, corner kicks, and goal kicks. The muscles and joints involved in laces kick are subject to groin injuries, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears/sprains and ankle sprains, that's why the correct technique is of primal importance (Kirkendall, Dvorak, 2010). In this study, the focus lies on hip, knee and ankle joints along with related muscles that take part in the movement. Kicking of the stationary ball was analyzed in order not to overcomplicate an already complex movement analysis. The influence of footwear is also neglected in this study, even though it has an impact on the corresponding launch and flight characteristics of the ball (Lees, Asai, Andersen, Nunome, Sterzing, 2010). The movement was divided into six main phases: the approach phase, foot planting, cocking of kicking limb, swing, ball contact and follow through. These phases regulate such shooting aspects as ball trajectory, ball height, accuracy, and speed. The aim of the study is to analyze biomechanical aspects of each phase, to identify the correct technique for each phase and to provide football players and coaches with some basic hints regarding on how the execution of the movement can be improved.

Movement analysis This study focuses on the analysis of the video created by the Biomechanics team at Manchester Metropolitan University (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBMA2wWuqh8). The video has been recorded with the frame rate of 50 frames per second, one frame has the length of 1 / 50 = 0.02 s. The video is composed of 167 frames and the total duration of the movement is 167 * 0.02 – 0.02 = 3.32 s. The main joints involved in the movement are hip, knee, and ankle. The protractor app was used on edge frames of each phase in order to define joint angles (figure 1).

Figure 1. Usage of the protractor app in order to define joint angles https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/protractor-angle-measurement/id927768724?l=en&mt=12

The biomechanical analysis of joint actions in each phase of the movement for both shooting and support foot is presented in table 1. For the support foot, only support foot planting phase is considered to be of relevance. The main muscles involved in joint actions during the movement are Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Gluteus muscles, Abdominals, Psoas, Gastrocnemius, Soleus and leg adductors (table 2) (Alberts, Bowder, Timmerman, 2013).

Table 1. Range and speed of motion (RoM/SoM) for shooting and support foot between each phase for hip, knee and ankle joints Joint

support foot planting

Cocking of kicking limb

Swing

Ball contact

Follow through

frames 1-27 0.52 seconds

frames 1-27 0.52 seconds

frames 27-35 0.16 seconds

frames 35-37 0.04 seconds

frames 37-68 0.62 seconds

Shooting foot Hip

Knee

Ankle

Extension

Flexion

Flexion

-

RoM: -16°-0°=-16° SoM: 30.8 °/s

-

RoM: -12.7°-(-110°)=97.3° RoM: -110°+56°=-54° RoM: 43°-56°=-13° SoM: 325 °/s SoM: 337.5 °/s SoM: 187.1 °/s

-

RoM: 130°-150°=-20° SoM: 38.5 °/s

RoM: 25°-(-16°)=41° SoM: 256.3 °/s

RoM: 29°-25°=6° SoM: 150 °/s

RoM: 150°-134°=16° SoM: 100 °/s

RoM: 50°-43°=7° SoM: 11.3 °/s

Plantarflexion

Dorsiflexion

Plantarflexion

Flexion

Extension

Extension

Flexion

Flexion RoM: 111°-29°=82° SoM: 132.3 °/s

Dorsiflexion

RoM: 134°-139°=-5° RoM: 139°-117°=22° SoM: 35.5 °/s SoM: 125 °/s

support foot Hip

Extension RoM: 18º-53°=-35º SoM: 67.3 °/s

Knee

Extension RoM: -63.8°+22°=-41.8° SoM: 80.4 °/s

Ankle

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Some dorsiflexion

-

Dorsiflexion RoM: 102.8°-97°=5.8° SoM: 11.2 °/s

Table 2. Muscles involved in each joint action Flexion Hip

Knee

Extension

Psoas Major, Iliacus, Tensor Fasciae Latae, Rectus Femoris, Sartorius, Adductor Longus, Adductor Brevis, Pectineus: concentric contraction

Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus, Biceps Femoris, Adductor Magnus: concentric contraction

Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius: eccentric contraction

Psoas Major, Tensor Fasciae Latae, Iliacus: eccentric contraction

Biceps Femoris, Semimembranosus, Semitendinosus, Gastrocnemius: concentric contraction

Vastus Medialis, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Intermedius, Rectus Femoris: concentric contraction

Vastus Medialis, Vastus Lateralis, Vastus Intermedius, Rectus Femoris: eccentric contraction

Semimembranosus eccentric contraction

Dorsiflexion Ankle

Plantarflexion

Tibialis Anterior, Extensor Digitorum Longus, Peroneus Tertius: concentric contraction

Gastrocnemius, Soleus, Tibialis Posterior, Flexor Digitorum Longus: concentric contraction

Gastrocnemius, Soleus: eccentric contraction

Tibialis Anterior, Extensor Digitorum Longus, Extensor Hallucis Longus, Fibularis Tertius: eccentric contraction

The approach phase is the very first phase of the analysis and comprises all the movements the athlete does just before the start of cocking the kicking foot. The athlete performs an approach phase at an angle of 44.5° with a medium size approach strides.

The support foot planting phase is defined as the phase between the moment of the start of cocking the kicking limb (frame 1) and the moment the support foot first touches the ground (frame 27). It is the start of cocking of kicking limb which defines the start of the support foot planting phase and not the moment when the support foot first leaves the ground, even though this phase is only relevant for the support foot. Cocking of kicking limb represents power producing movement where knee flexion is the main component. This phase stores up force and energy that will transfer over to the swing phase. The athlete flexed his knee up to 110° before the start of swing phase. Swing phase represents an explosive anaerobic movement where torque and moment arm play a major biomechanical role (Nagano, Komuro, 2003). Ball contact phase is the shortest phase of the movement with the total duration of 0.04 s. During this phase hip flexion and knee extension in shooting leg continue to take place similar to the swing phase. There is some minor plantarflexion in shooting foot in parallel with the dorsiflexion in support foot. Follow through is the last and the longest phase (0.62 s) with the hip flexion as a primary action. This phase increases the ball contact time. Without the follow through phase, the ball contact time would be as little as 8 ms (Shinkai, Nunome, Isokawa, Ikegami, 2009). Assuming that the ball on the video is the normal association football ball of the regulation size 5, it's diameter is roughly 22 cm (International Football Association Board, 2017). For one frame time range of 0.02 seconds just after the ball contact phase, the ball has moved the distance of near 18 cm between two frames (figure 2) which means that the ball has a speed of 0.18 / 0.02 = 9 m/s.

Figure 2. Speed of motion of the ball just after the contact

Practical Applications The findings of (Egan, Vwerheul & Savelsbergh, 2007) indicate that the approach angle of 43° (the angle between the approach line and the line between the goal and the ball) is considered to be the best angle with the regard to distance. These findings also support previous research that found an approach angle of around 45° generated maximum ball speed (Isokawa & Lees, 1988). The athlete performs an approach phase at an angle which is slightly less than 45° which can be considered as optimal. Shortening approach strides with a slightly curved approach and a longer last stride length can generate more power and control due to greater forward rotation of the kicking side (Lees, Asai, Andersen, Nunome, Sterzing, 2010). Curved approach probably serves the purpose that the body produces and maintains a lateral inclination as the kick is performed. According to (Lees et al., 2009) the support leg knee should be flexed to 26° at foot-ground contact at the end of the support foot planting phase. As can be seen from the table 1, the support leg knee was flexed at just 18° and this component can, therefore, be an option for improvement. In regard to the distance, the body should be inclined backwards to the vertical and laterally to the non-kicking side at ball contact (Prassas, Terauds, Nathan, 1990), but leaning too much back will cause the ball to go high into the air and most probably over the target. The ball has the speed of 9 m/s just right after the ball contact phase which is a way less than the average kicking speed of 26.4 m/s of male soccer players (Sakamoto, Sasaki, Hong, Matsukura, Asai, 2014). The possible explanation for the low ball with a slow speed during the follow through phase is that either the upper body was inclined too much backwards (29° hip joint and 49° knee joint with accordance to table 1) and the ankle joint was not heavily fixed during the contact phase, or because of very high air pressure inside the ball, which remains unknown. After the ball contact phase, a momentum brings a body to the front and an athlete should land on his kicking foot, which is not the case in this study where athlete landed on the back foot. This means that an athlete's body momentum was not fully utilized and this could be another potential explanation for a very slow ball speed just after the contact phase.

Discussion The football kick with laces demands a very complex technique and often even professional football players execute this movement incorrectly under the opponents and time pressure. It should be noted that in a real football specific training it is advised to practice player's shooting technique when the ball is in movement in order to meet the demands of a real game. This implies, however, that a player already possesses good technical shooting skills. Core stability and muscle strength training are seen as being pivotal for efficient biomechanical function necessary to maximize force generation and minimize joint loads (Hibbs et al, 2008). According to Goodstein (2011), it is important to have a strong, stable core as this impacts on all functional football related movements, particularly on player's shooting ability. Even though the muscles of the trunk, the abdominal core, and spinal postural muscles are not directly involved in joints actions during the movement, these muscles serve as stabilizers to maintain body balance and have a vast influence on player's shooting technique (Prieske, Muehlbauer, Borde, Gube, Bruhn, Behm, Granacher, 2016). For this reason, it is highly recommended to do football specific core stabilization exercises (side plank with leg raise, exercise ball rollouts for anterior core development etc.). Strengthening leg muscles by leg extension exercises and squats is recommended in order to increase shooting power. Continuous plantarflexion and knee flexion of shooting foot during full 90 minutes in a football game cause hamstrings, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to be subject to serious muscle cramps. It is highly advised to rehydrate an athlete and to restore his electrolytes level prior to the game and during a half-time break (Stofan et al, 2003).

References Alberts K., Bowder K., Timmerman K. (2013). Movement analysis of kicking a soccer ball. Retrieved from http://wp.cune.org/kyleahbowder/files/2013/05/biomechanics2.pdf Goodstein B. (2000). Sports performance and injury prevention in professional soccer. NSCA’ performance training journal. 10(3): 8-10 Hibbs A.E., Thompson K.G., French D., Wrigley A., Spears I. (2008). Optimizing performance by improving core stability and core strength. Sports Med 38(12): 995-1008 International Football Association Board. (2017). Laws of the game. Law 2. Retrieved from https://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/footballdevelopment/refereeing/02/90/11/67/lawsofthegam e2017-2018-en_neutral.pdf Junge A., Rosch D., Peterson L., Graf-Baumann T., Dvorak J. (2002). Prevention of soccer injuries: a prospective intervention study in youth amateur players. Am J Sports Med. 30 (5): 652-659 Kirkendall D.T., Dvorak J. (2010). Effective injury prevention in soccer. The Physician and sportsmedicine 38(1): 147-57 Lees A., Asai T., Andersen T. B., Nunome H., Sterzing T. (2010). The biomechanics of kicking in soccer: a review. J Sports Sci 28(8): 805-17 Mackenzie B. (2007). Movement Analysis [WWW] https://www.brianmac.co.uk/moveanal.htm [Accessed 5/7/2018]

Available

from:

Nagano A., Komuro T. (2003). Longer moment arm results in smaller joint moment development, power and work outputs in fast motions. J Biomech. 36(11): 1675-81 Nilsoon N. (2014). Movement analysis of side step cutting motion in agility testing for elite athletes. Perry T. S. (1990). Biomechanically engineered athletes. Spectrum, IEEE, 27 (4), p. 43-44 Prieske O., Muehlbauer T., Borde R., Gube M., Bruhn S., Behm D.G., Granacher U. (2016). Neuromuscular and athletic performance following core strength training in elite youth soccer: Role of instability. Scand J Med Sci Sports 26(1): 48-56 Sakamoto K., Sasaki R., Hong S., Matsukura K., Asai T. (2014). Comparison of kicking speed between female and male soccer players. Procedia Engineering 72: 50 – 55 Shinkai H., Nunome H., Isokawa M., Ikegami Y. (2009). Ball impact dynamics of instep soccer kicking. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 41(4): 889–897 Stofan J. R., Zachwieja J.J., Horswill C. A., Lacambra M., Murray R., Eichner E. R. (2003). Sweat and sodium losses in NCAA Division 1 football players with a history of whole body muscle cramping. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35, S48 1433 words without table content and references...