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Biomechanics - Comparative Analysis Kicking
Movement of Youth Football Player
Anthony Siokos (5835) Unit Assessment - Task 2
Poster Presentation (15) Understanding Motion
and Human Movement (SC222) Raul Landeo Due Week
12, 7/5/08
Introduction
The skill, exercise, movement task or sporting
skill chosen for analysis is a kicking motion
frequently used in the sport of football
(soccer). In order to understand the
biomechanics of this movement a number of points
have been highlighted which include the muscles
used in the movement, the range of motion,
internal and external environment, and level of
ability of the subject used for this
analysis. Quantitative data has been produced
using the computer analysis protocol, Swinger. A
qualitative assessment has been briefly touched
upon in order to produce a complete analysis of
the subject and the type of movement.
Adjacent/below are a series of graphs displaying
the results compiled and calculated.
Kick 1 Standing kick
Kick 2 Running kick
Methods
Results
Discussion
On Tuesday, 18 March 2008, digital video
recording of a youth football player was
undertaken in order to compare and analyse two
kicking movements. The first, a standing kick
with the non-kicking foot firmly planted on the
ground and the kicking foot swinging back to then
come forward and strike the ball using the
in-step of the foot. The second, a running kick
where the subject was asked to strike the ball
after running toward it, using the same simple
technique of planting the non-kicking foot firmly
on the ground and using the in-step to connect
with the ball propelling it forward. All data
was collected with the use of the local football
field, a number of footballs, digital video
camera and the subject conducting the movement.
The subjects name is Michael Kenyon, aged 14
with only two-years experience playing football
i.e. he has a limited level of technique and
skill. Post collection of subject data, two
video files were uploaded to Swinger where the
shoulder, hip, knee and ankle movements were
plotted producing quantitative data for
assessment. From this data Figure 1 and Figure 2
adjacent have been produced to analyse the
movement in more detail. The focal point of
analysis for this comparison is the hip, knee and
ankle movements. The objective was to measure
whether there was a significant difference
between the two kicks.
Biomechanics can be defined as the science that
examines internal and external forces acting on
the human body and the effects produced by these
forces (Sewell, Watkins Griffin, 2005, p.191).
In football, there are a number of different
kicking movements which produce force to propel
the ball forward, in this case a standing kick
and running kick have been analysed. The
movement can be divided into four phases as shown
in Table 1 (Howe Hanchard, 2003, p.18).
Movement (in one plane) Action
Phase 1 Priming the thigh and leg during backswing
Phase 2 Rotation of the thigh and leg laterally and flexion of the hip
Phase 3 Deceleration of the thigh and acceleration of the leg
Phase 4 The follow through
Figure 1. Joint Trajectory comparison between
Standing Running kicks.
Table 1. Action phases of kicking a ball.
Reference List
Howe, T., Hanchard, N. (2003). Functional
anatomy. In T. Reilly, A.M. Williams, A.M.
(Eds.), (2003). Science and soccer (2nd ed.) (pp.
9-20). Abingdon, Oxon Routledge. Sewell, D.,
Watkins, P., Griffin, M. (2005). Sport and
exercise science An introduction. London
Hodder Arnold.
Figure 2. Joint Velocity comparison between
Standing Running kicks.