Table of Contents
The biomechanical principles are generally responsible for the movement of the various parts of the body. The principles are majorly used in the sporting sector to analyze the extent of an injury and to determine the relevant strategies that can be used in healing (Ramírez-Campillo at al., 2014). People require health in understanding the body movement and thus they have to determine the reasons for the various body part movements. This paper focuses on analyzing the skill of taking a penalty kick while playing soccer using the biomechanical principles.
A soccer spot kick is one of the most common skills used in many sports including rugby. The kick takes less than five seconds and thus the person executing has to ensure they put in place the right technique to ensure affectivity. The success of the kick will depend on the force applied, the distance covered before impact and the skill used to take the shot (Lex et al., 2015). Various body parts are involved differently in the kick. The trunk of the body will be responsible for stabilizing the rotation to the right, in case the shot is taken by the right foot. The abdominal and spinal muscles will aid the trunk in performing the function. With the aid of the hamstring muscles, the right hip will further help in the extension of the foot in order to take the shot. Just like the right hip, the left hip will be responsible for facilitating the external rotation and eccentric rotation of the body (Ramírez-Campillo at al., 2014). The hamstring and adductor Magnus muscles will be responsible for achieving the function. Further, the flexion of the body will be performed by the right knee with the aid of the popliteus muscles. The final part of the body that is involved will be the left shoulder that is responsible for the abduction process. The abduction by the shoulder is aided by the Middle and anterior deltoid muscles.
Components of the Kick
When taking the kick, various body parts are involved differently. There are varied movements that will be experienced by the parts due to the extension of the muscle. Professional soccer players tend to take a 45 degrees angle while taking the short to ensure precision (Cherelle et al., 2016). The various phases of the process will include: the approach, limb loading, knee extension and hip flexion, contact of the foot and a follow through. Just like taking the actual shot, the approach phase will use various body part movements such as the trunk stabilization, the internal rotation of the right hip, and an extension of the right knee and the left hip. Several people have tried to determine the relationship between the plant foot and the force of the ball moves. The direction of the plant foot is essential in determining the direction the ball moves. Parent & Slack (2007) determines that when taking the shot, the plant foot should be approximately 10cm to the left of the ball. When the distance is too wide, the balance of the player will be affected and thus the shot may not be accurate and in some instances, there may be the rupture of tendons.
Various techniques are equally applied in the swinging of the right foot to take the kick. During the phase, the left arm is raised and points to the direction the ball will take while the eye of the player is focused on the ball. The arm is majorly raised to ensure balance on the body that is trending to rotate. Just at the moment when the plant foot hits the ground, the right foot swings to acquire force to be used in the kick (Lex et al., 2015). Just as the swing is concluded, the knee extensors and leg flexors will accelerate the leg to ensure the shot is taken. The next phase of the kick will be initiated by the knee extensors and the flexion of the hips. Due to the rotation of the left foot, the thigh will be swung forward and downward. As the movement in the thigh slows down, the foot will acquire acceleration due to the kinetic energy previously stored (Van et al., 2010). As the knee of the right foot moves over the ball, it the foot will be forcefully plantarflexed to ensure the shot is acquired. During the phase of kicking, a little of the kinetic energy in the body will be transferred to the ball in order to enhance motion. The remaining energy is transferred into the body to aid in stopping the movement of the various body parts. According to Parent & Slack (2007), this is the part that will most like the result of injury due to a large amount of forces involved and the extension on the hamstrings. During the whole process, the hamstrings and the posterior ankle impingements are the most likely to get an injury.
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