Kinesiological Determinants of the Path of the Foot during the Football Kick

Abstract

High speed cinematography was used to gather data from 4 subjects for use in successful multiple regression predictions of the path of the foot during the kicking of an Australian rules football. The predictors used were the direction and velocity of iliac crest on the kicking leg side of the body, together with the knee and thigh angle velocities of the kicking leg. The relative importance of the predictors was measured by the beta weights of the regression equations and found to vary from subject to subject. It was also found possible to predict the direction and velocity of the iliac crest on the support side of the body from the thigh, knee, and ankle angles of the support leg. These predictions were not as successful as those of the foot path. The analysis suggested a reason for the lack of correlation between body velocity and the velocity of the kicking foot. A possible explanation was proposed for the relative lack of movement of the thigh during the period of contact between foot and ball.