THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE SOCCER KICKING REVEALED BY 3D KINEMATICS AND ELECTROMYOGRAPHY

Abstract

Soccer is the mosl popular sport in the world' and rapidly becoming one of the most popular sports in North America. Despite its popularity, little research has been done to facilitate the rapid demand of quantitative findings. Even less attention is being paid to the fact that females now make up almost half the players worldwide. This study initiates a research on female soccer kicking using state-of-the-art technology. The high-tech unit consists of a 3D motion capture system with 9 high-speed cameras (120 Hz) and wireless electromyography (EMG) collection. The results revealed that a) Elite subjects combined the f1exion and extension of the hip, knee and ankle joint to perform the kick while novice subjects primarily used the knee to generate momentum; b) elite group showed a significant higher EMG intensity.