INVESTIGATION OF SEGMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS IN POWERFUL SOCCER HEADING

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate segmental characteristics of the jumping header in soccer, with prime focus on the arms, legs and the head. To accomplish this a standardization of the skill was also created. Five skilled subjects impacted soccer balls delivered at 13.1 [±0.22] m/s from a ball canon. The body and ball movement were video filmed at 120/240 Hz. It was concluded that the head accelerates forward, relative to the torso, throughout the impact phase and that the mass impacting the ball (13.8 % of the whole body mass) was a significant larger mass than the head's mass alone. Furthermore, the segmental angular momentum of the legs indicated that these segments were used mechanically well in the execution of the skill, while this was not the case with the arms. From the development of the segmental velocity and angular momentum throughout the heading phase, it could also be concluded, that the over all timing of the skill was not optimum.