A comparison of ball velocity in different kicking positions with dominant and non-dominant leg in junior soccer players

Problem Statement: The aim of this study was to compare the ball velocity in different kicking conditions with dominant and non-dominant leg in junior soccer players.Approach: Sixteen junior soccer players (age 17.6±0.6yr, height 1.76±0.06m, and weight 67.9±5.2kg) participated in this study. All participants kicked a soccer ball three times in seven conditions with the dominant and non-dominant leg. 1) Kicking the ball from 11m straight forwards, 2 and 3) kicking the ball from 11m to the left and right side of the goal, 4 and 5) kicking the ball straight forwards from 11m after a pass from the left and right side, 6 and 7) kicking the ball straight forwards from 11m after a pass that came from a diagonal position (45o) from the left and right side. The highest ball velocity was used for analysis.Results: Significant differences were found in ball velocity between the dominant and non-dominant leg in all conditions (p<0.001). For the dominant leg also significant differences were found in the kicking of eleven meters (ideal conditions) compared with: the perpendicular passing kick after the ball on the right (p=0.0024) and left (p=0.0080) and also with a diagonal kick after pass (45 °) of the ball on the right (p=0.0017) and left (p = 0.0381). Significant differences in the kicking with the non-dominant leg were found when kicking from eleven meters to the right side of the goal in comparison to: the kick under the same conditions, to the left side of the goal (p=0.0243) after pass and shot from the left side perpendicular (p=0.0222).Conclusions/Recommendations: kicking velocity is influenced very much under different conditions when kicking with the dominant leg while for the non-dominant leg this influence was small, because the non-dominant leg is less trained, so the values of velocity in different conditions, in addition to being the lowest, are closer than those obtained with the dominant leg