INSTEP SOCCER KICK TECHNIQUE AND PERFORMANCE THROUGH AN ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT VARlABILlN

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure of movement variability (MV) for hit and missed instep kicks using the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis. University soccer players (n=1 1 ) performed a maximal instep kick at a target 11 metres (m) away. Hit and missed kicks were analysed using the UCM method. Dependent measures for UCM analysis were UCM variability measures and strength of synergy across six performance variables. Clear differences were noted between hit and missed kicks based on the UCM analysis. The UCM analysis provided a powerful tool for showing clear differences between hit and missed kicks and suggest that accurate kicking performance could be dependent on the structure of MV within the human motor system.