The purpose of the study was to compare the differences in the kinematics of the instep kick movement in different kick directions in a soccer penalty kick. The significant aspects of the joint movements that influence the kick directions were determined. Eleven female soccer athletes performed the instep kick in two different directions (left and right posts) on an outdoor field. The kinematic data measured from kick techniques were collected using three standard video cameras and a high speed camera (80Hz). All the data was analyzed by paired t-test. There are several variables that are significantly different between the two kick directions. There are only three variables that can predict kick direction significantly: support foot orientation, distance from support heel to the ball center and approach angle. The support foot may be the most useful cue for goalkeepers to predict the ball direction. Other cues may be less helpful because they are difficult to interpret or too subtle to be detected.

The purpose of the study was to compare the differences in the kinematics of the instep kick movement in different kick directions in a soccer penalty kick. The significant aspects of the joint movements that influence the kick directions were determined. Eleven female soccer athletes performed the instep kick in two different directions (left and right posts) on an outdoor field. The kinematic data measured from kick techniques were collected using three standard video cameras and a high speed camera (80Hz). All the data was analyzed by paired t-test. There are several variables that are significantly different between the two kick directions. There are only three variables that can predict kick direction significantly: support foot orientation, distance from support heel to the ball center and approach angle. The support foot may be the most useful cue for goalkeepers to predict the ball direction. Other cues may be less helpful because they are difficult to interpret or too subtle to be detected.

The purpose of this study was to assess the acute effects of static stretching on foot velocity at impact with a soccer ball. Eighteen Division I female soccer athletes underwent two test conditions separated by 48 hr. Each condition was randomly assigned and began by placing four retro-reflective markers on bony landmarks of the ankle (total of eight markers, four on each ankle). One condition was the no-stretch condition, in which each participant performed a self-paced jog for 5 min as a warm-up, and then sat quietly for 6 min before performing three maximal instep kicks into a net. The second condition was the stretch condition, which was identical to the no-stretch condition, except the participants performed a series of six randomly ordered stretches instead of sitting quietly for 6 min. Three-dimensional motion analysis was used to quantify the resultant velocity of the head of the 5th metatarsal immediately prior to foot impact with a soccer ball. The results of a dependent t test indicated that there was no significant difference between the no-stretch (18.34 ± 1.29 m/s) and stretch conditions (17.96 ± 1.55 m/s; p = .102, d = .3) Based on these findings, acute stretching performed one time for 30 s before maximal instep soccer kicking has no effect on the resultant foot velocity of Division 1A university female soccer players. Pre-event stretching performed in a like manner may best be prescribed at the discretion of the athlete.