COORDINATION PATTERNS OF PREFERRED AND NON-PREFERRED KICKING OF THE DROP PUNT KICK: A KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE PELVIS, HIP AND KNEE

Abstract

This study expanded on previous work investigating preferred (P) and non-preferred (NP) leg kicks in Australian football (AF), however this work included the kinematics of the pelvis and hip as well as the knee. Eight elite AF players performed drop punt kicks with their P and NP legs. Three dimensional kinematic data (Optotrak Certus, 250Hz) from kick foot toe off to ball contact was recorded for each kick. Significantly larger foot speed and knee angular velocities were produced by the P leg. Differences in coordination were found to be largely ROM and velocity based. Of note was the P leg produced greater ROM at the knee and pelvis but the NP leg produced greater ROM at the hip suggesting a different strategy might exist for the different legs. More work exploring the different involvement of the hip, knee and pelvis is warranted.