Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-144). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-39). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 81 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-144). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 132-139).

Thesis (MSportwet)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91).

Football is the most popular sport and played by more players worldwide than any other sport. The football boot industry is therefore big, competitive and still growing. Today, football boot designs are subcategorised into four categories, of which three are linked to specific skill performance enhancing claims: The power boot for enhanced shooting performance, the touch/control boot for enhanced ball control and the speed boot for enhanced speed generation. In comparison to the strong marketing claims, little research has been published on the impact of football boot design on performance, injury and comfort. Therefore, little is known about the importance and impact of changing boot design. The outcome of this thesis offers researcher and the football boot industry validated human test protocols for power boot, touch/control and speed boot designs. The outcome of the thesis also advances the knowledge of how the football boot impacts performance, comfort and highlights the potential links between plantar comfort and injury risk. Rule based system assessment was performed to validate a boot performance conceptual framework linking the player and their desired movements during a football match with the football boot and its different components. The three protocols for assessment of key performance aspects for power boots, touch/control boots and speed boots were validated using test-retest reliability assessment through relative and absolute reliability measures. The power boot protocols involved shooting assessment measuring ball velocity, offset from target, success and player perception of ball velocity and accuracy. The touch/control boot protocol involved dribbling and passing assessment measuring time, number of touches and radial distance from cones during completion of a complex dribbling drill, ball velocity and offset from target during flat and airborne passes. The speed boot protocols involved combined agility and acceleration sprinting time and jump height before and after a 90 min match simulation protocol. Throughout the match simulation heart rate, player perceived exertion, perceived muscle fatigue, overall foot comfort and specific regional foot comfort. The validated protocols were then applied to assess how boot parameters impact performance. For the power boot, boots with and without upper padding were compared II demonstrating a small favour for the non-padded boot. Similarly, boots with and without upper padding were compared for the touch/control boot scenario with no differences seen between the two designs. Finally, two commercially available speed boots were assessed for the speed boot scenario demonstrating significant differences in both comfort and performance measures. Indicating a potential link between decreased foot comfort and decreased ability to maintain performance throughout a 90 min game. The boot performance conceptual framework was developed with component at each level but no interactive links between levels were added due to the lack of evidence in the literature. The boot performance conceptual framework offers researchers and the football boot industry a visualisation tool to aid the general overview when assessing or designing football boots. The three validations of protocols demonstrated strong test- retest reliability for most measures assessed and can therefore be applied to assess the impact of altering boot designs like demonstrated in this study.

Orientador: Sergio Augusto Cunha / Banca: Lilian Teresa Bucken Gobbi / Banca: Sebastião Iberes Lopes Melo / Resumo: O futebol é o esporte mais popular em todo o mundo e possui milhões de praticantes em todas as faixas etárias. Este trabalho teve o objetivo de descrever e comparar os padrões cinemáticos dos chutes realizados com a parte medial do pé com participantes de 15 e 17 anos de idade. Foram filmados vinte participantes com características homogêneas quanto a massa, estatura, nível maturacional e prática no futebol. Estes realizaram três séries de cinco chutes com a bola parada, onde esta deveria passar por sobre uma barreira posicionada a 9,15 m da bola, simulando assim uma cobrança de falta de uma distância de vinte metros em direção ao gol. Foram utilizadas três câmeras digitais, as quais, duas estavam posicionadas lateralmente ao movimento dos participantes e focalizavam os marcadores passivos colocados no membro inferior, e a outra focalizava o gol para verificar a precisão dos chutes. Estes marcadores passivos reflexivos, medindo 2,5cm de diâmetro, foram colocados nas articulações do quadril (trocanter maior), joelho (epicôndilo lateral do fêmur), tornozelo (maléolo lateral) e metatarso lateral (quinta articulação metatarsofalangeana), também foi fixado um outro marcador na tuberosidade lateral do osso calcâneo definindo os segmentos coxa, perna e pé. As imagens foram capturadas, armazenadas e medidas no computador através do software Dvideow (Barros et. al, 1999) . Em seguida os dados foram suavizados para a realização da projeção estereográfica e obtenção do padrão cinemático (características da posição dos segmentos) dos chutes dos participantes. Os resultados mostraram que ocorreram separações na fase de apoio no segmento coxa e perna, já o segmento pé apresentou pequenas diferenças somente na fase de contato. Em todos os segmentos ocorreram diferenças significativas entre as fases. Em relação a precisão a... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and there are millions of players in all age. This work had as objective to describe and to compare the cinematic patterns of the kick accomplished with the medial part of the foot in players of 15 and 17 years old. Twenty participants accomplished three series of five kicks with the ball, where this should pass for on a barrier positioned at 9.15 meters of the ball, simulating a fault kick of a distance of twenty meters to the goal. Three digital cameras were used: two were positioned to the participants' movement and focalize the passive markers placed in the inferior member, and the other focalize the goal to verify the precision of the kick. The passive markers measuring 2.5cm of diameter were placed in the articulations, defining the segments thigh, leg and foot. The images were captured, stored and measures in the computer. After this the data were smoothed to obtain the cinematic pattern of the kick. The results showed that it happened separations in the support phase in the segment thigh and leg, the segment foot already presented only small differences in the contact phase. In all of the segments it happened significant differences among the phases. About the precision of the success percentage of the kicks it was similar in the two groups (G1=10% and G2=11,3%). So it was concluded that, in spite small differences exist, the pattern was similar in both groups. / Mestre