Biomechanical Characteristics of Elite Female Australian Rules
Football Preferred and Non-preferred Drop Punt Kicks
Emily E. Cust
1,2 a
, Kevin Ball
1
, Alice J. Sweeting
1,2 b
and Sam Robertson
1,2 c
1
Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Footscray, 3011, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2
Western Bulldogs Football Club, Whitten Oval, Footscray, 3011, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Keywords: Australian Football, Kicking, Kinematics.
Abstract: While Australian Rules kick biomechanics has been researched considerably, there is yet to be focus
specifically on women participants. Elite female Australian Rules football drop punt kick characteristics were
collected from 15 elite female participants for both the preferred and non-preferred legs. All participants
undertook a 20-kick protocol captured by a 3-dimensional motion analysis camera system. Preferred leg kicks
produced faster foot velocities prior to foot-ball contact, 18.0 ± 1.2 m.s
-1
preferred, 16.2 ± 1.3 m.s
-1
non-
preferred, and faster ball velocities post foot-ball contact, 24.7 ± 1.4 m.s
-1
preferred, 21.6 ± 2.0 m.s
-1
non-
preferred. Differences in movement patterns of the hip and knee joint segments were shown between kick leg
preferences; hip angular velocity 94.4 ± 75.9 °/s preferred and 126.2 ± 66.3 °/s non-preferred, knee angular
velocity 1384.8 ± 415.2 °/s preferred and 1013.6 ± 230.2 °/s non-preferred. Research results identified the
changes in elite women’s drop punt kick mechanics in comparison to leg preference, which can be viewed
against senior and junior men’s Australian football kick analysis findings. The current research information
could be of benefit to practitioners in linking targeted field coaching cues and conditioning programs tailored
to identified kick skill and movement deficiencies.
1 INTRODUCTION
The National Women’s Australian Rules Football
competition (AFLW) is in its fourth year of operation,
yet there has been no reported biomechanical analysis
of women’s kicking. In Australian Rules football
(AF), efficient kick performance has been identified
as a strong contributor towards team match success
(Robertson, Gupta and McIntosh, 2016; Black et al.,
2018).
In AF the drop punt is the most commonly
performed kick due to the flight accuracy and ease of
catching for the receiver (Ball, 2008). Across the six
phases of a drop punt (Ball, 2008), several kinematic
factors have been found to influence the success,
efficiency, and accuracy of performance.
Prominently, higher kick leg foot velocities prior to
ball contact have a major influence on the kick
distance (Ball, 2008; Ball et al., 2013; Peacock, Ball
and Taylor, 2017) and ball velocities (Ball, 2008;
Peacock and Balll, 2016; Peacock and Ball, 2017)
a
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6927-6329
b
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9185-6773
c
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8330-0011
achieved. The flight path accuracy of the ball is
determined primarily by the combination of the flight
characteristics imparted on the ball during the foot-
to-ball contact phase (Peacock and Ball, 2018;
Peacock et al., 2018). Differences in kick
biomechanics have been found between the preferred
and non-preferred leg in men’s AF kicks (Smith, Ball
and MacMahon, 2009; Ball, 2011) and soccer
(Nunome et al., 2006). The ability to kick proficiently
on both legs and over long distances in AF is a tactical
advantage (Ball, 2008; 2011) in the dynamic
unpredictable nature of match play. Biomechanical
assessment may be an important information source
for individual athlete skill profiling to identify areas
of deficiencies for drop punts kicks.
The kick impact and technical components of
men’s kicking across several athlete levels has
already been established allowing for quantified
information to further develop kick skills on a team
and individual basis. To address the lack of
quantitative information in women’s AF kick
biomechanics, 3-dimensional optoelectronic motion
32
Cust, E., Ball, K., Sweeting, A. and Robertson, S.
Biomechanical Characteristics of Elite Female Australian Rules Football Preferred and Non-preferred Drop Punt Kicks.
DOI: 10.5220/0008066300320037
In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2019), pages 32-37
ISBN: 978-989-758-383-4
Copyright
c
2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
analysis was undertaken. Conducting this research is
important for broadening the sport science support
invested in the new AFLW competition, with the
intention of improving athlete kick skill and therefore
team match performances. The aim of this research
was to analyse the biomechanical characteristics of
elite female AF drop punts for both the preferred and
non-preferred kick legs. The outcomes of this
research can inform the technical aspects of distance
kicking in women’s AF to aid in athlete kick skill
development, as well as links with strength and
conditioning and injury.
2 METHODS
2.1 Participants
Fifteen elite female AF athletes provided written
informed consent to participate in this research. Of
the participants, twelve were contracted to an AFLW
team and three were competing at a high standard in
their respective State based competition. The
University’s Human Research Ethics Committ ee
approved the study (application number
0000025654).
2.2 Research Procedures
Athletes undertook a drop punt kick protocol as part
of a broader test battery. Ten drop punts were
undertaken for maximum distance and intensity on
each leg. Maximal kicks were performed into a net
situated 30 m from the kick launch area. Prior to
undertaking the protocol, each athlete completed a
dynamic warmup including jogging, dynamic
stretches and five 20 m submaximal kicks on each
leg. All athletes wore their regular football boots and
used official AFLW match balls (Sherrin, Scoresby,
Australia). The testing was conducted in purpose built
indoor football training facility on artificial turf.
Drop punt kicks were captured by a 10-camera
optoelectronic motion analysis system (MAS)
capturing at 100 Hz (T-40 series, Vicon Nexus v2,
Oxford, UK). Previous assessment of sampling rates
had found low maximum error ranges for kick
parameters from 500 Hz to 100 Hz (Coventry et al.,
2015). Cameras were set up as an arc around the
testing area and mounted at varying heights in order
to allow full capture of the kick and ball flight
movements. 35 reflective markers (diameter: 14 mm)
were taped to each athlete at anatomical landmarks as
per previous kick research (Blair et al., 2018), shown
in Figure 1. Four reflective makers were attached to
the football (Figure 2) to create a coordinate system
and establish the ball centre.
Figure 1: Athlete marker set-up.
Figure 2: Football reflective marker positions.
2.3 Data Analysis
Raw motion analysis data were digitised in Nexus
(v.2.0, Vicon, Oxford, UK) and processed in Visual
3D (C-motion, Inc. Germantown, USA). Data were
pre-processed through a polynomial interpolation
(order: 3) and smoothed using a low-pass fourth-order
Butterworth filter (cut-off frequency: 10 Hz) (Ball,
2008, 2011; frequent in-lab evauation of VICON data
using spectral and residual analyses).
A total of 300 drop punts (150 preferred and 150
non-preferred kicks) were analysed for ball velocity
values. The trials with the highest preferred and non-
preferred ball velocities were selected for each athlete
for full kinematic analysis in this study, as final ball
velocities are the reflection of efficacy in impact
characteristics applied to the ball (Peacock, et al.,
2017; Peacock and Ball, 2018a). A total of nine drop
punt kick parameters were analysed from the MAS
data, see Table 1, based on previous technical
parameters assessed in AF kick performance (Ball,
2008; Smith et al., 2009; Ball, Smith and MacMahon,
2010).
Biomechanical Characteristics of Elite Female Australian Rules Football Preferred and Non-preferred Drop Punt Kicks
33
Table 1: Definitions of measured kick parameters.
Parameter
Definition
Foot velocity prior to
ball contact (m.s
-1
)
Linear velocity of the foot
segment measured from the
head of the 5
th
metatarsal
Ball velocity post foot
contact (m.s
-1
)
Linear velocity of the ball
segment
Ball: foot velocity ratio
Ball velocity at release divided
by foot velocity at initial
impact
Support leg knee flexion
(°)
Degree of flexion of the
support leg at ball contact
Knee angle at ball
contact (°)
Angle between the thigh and
shank of kick leg
Knee angular velocity
(°/s)
Angular velocity of the knee
joint of kick leg
Hip angle at ball contact
(°)
Angle between the thigh and
the trunk on the anterior aspect
of the participant
Hip angular velocity
(°/s)
Angular velocity of the hip
segment
Pelvis linear velocity
(m.s
-1
)
Linear velocity of the pelvis
segment
Processed data for each parameter were exported
to a custom Excel file and the group mean and
standard deviation (SD) calculated for each preferred
and non-preferred kick parameter. Paired t-tests were
computed for each parameter with statistical
significance set at p < 0.05. The effect size for each
measure for between-group distances was calculated
using Cohen’s d statistic indicating a small or trivial
(d = 0–0.2), moderate (d = 0.2–0.5), large (d = 0.5–
0.8), and very large (d . 0.8) effect (Hopkins et al.,
2009).
3 RESULTS
Table 2 reports the mean data kinematic parameters
of the foot, knee, hip, and ball segments. The
preferred leg produced significantly greater foot
velocity, ball velocity, knee angular velocity, and
pelvis linear velocity, and a significantly smaller hip
angle and hip angular velocity in comparison to the
non-preferred leg. The maximum foot velocities
achieved were 20.9 m.s
-1
and 17.7 m.s
-1
on the
preferred and non-preferred legs, respectively. The
maximum ball velocities achieved were 27.0 m.s
-1
and 25.5 m.s
-1
on the preferred and non-preferred
legs, respectively.
4 DISCUSSION
The current research on women’s elite Australian
Rules football kick biomechanics reports the first
analysis of its type to further the understandings of
kick skill execution. Results showed that preferred
leg kicks were characterised by faster foot velocities
prior to ball contact, greater knee angular velocities,
pelvis linear velocities, and smaller hip angular
velocities. Linking information from biomechanical
analysis with field coaching cues and conditioning
programs may be beneficial for individualised athlete
kick skill development.
Elite female AF athletes in this study produced
higher foot and ball velocities on their preferred leg
kicks. Foot and ball velocities for elite women were
lower than the reported values for senior elite men
(Ball, 2008; 2011; Smith et al., 2009) and junior elite
men (Ball et al., 2010) AF athletes. Preferred leg drop
punt kicks in elite senior men have shown foot
velocities of 26.5 ± 2.5 m.s
-1
and ball velocities of
32.6 ± 4.4 m.s
-1
(Smith, Ball and MacMahon, 2009).
Relation could also be drawn to kick distances
achieved by women and men as foot velocity has
shown strong correlation association with ball flight
distance (Ball, 2008; Peacock, Ball and Taylor,
2017). Elite female soccer athletes have reported foot
velocities of 17.70 ± 1.92 m.s
-1
(instep kicks)
and
17.45 ± 1.59
m.s
-1
(curve kicks), and ball velocities of
22.62 ± 1.71 m.s
-1
(instep kicks) and 21.51 ± 1.33
m.s
1
(curve kicks) (Alcock et al., 2012).
The ball-to-foot velocity ratio is a measure of kick
impact efficiency and is widely reported on in AF
(Smith, Ball and MacMahon, 2009; Ball, Smith and
MacMahon, 2010; Ball et al., 2013; Peacock and Ball,
2018b) and soccer research (Shinkai et al., 2009;
Sakamoto and Asai, 2013; Nunome et al., 2018). The
present study showed no difference for ball-to-foot
ratio between the preferred (1.31) and non-preferred
legs (1.33), which has previously been reported in
male AF kick research (Smith et al., 2009). This may
indicate that greater ball velocities on the preferred
leg are the result of a faster leg swing as attributed by
faster foot velocities and knee angular velocities in
applying greater force onto the ball (Nunome et al.,
2006; Smith et al., 2009) (Table 2). Differences in
body mass have also been reported to affect the ball-
to-foot ratio, which may confound comparisons
between male, female, junior, and senior playing
groups (Shinkai et al., 2013).
icSPORTS 2019 - 7th International Conference on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support
34
Differences in movement patterns were shown
between kick leg preferences. Overall, the preferred
leg achieved greater knee angular velocity and pelvis
linear velocity, and smaller hip angle and hip angular
velocity (Table 2). As the non-preferred leg produced
larger hip angular velocities and hip angles, this may
suggest that greater use of the thigh and hip segments
were recruited. The change in movement pattern
between the kick leg types may indicate the need for
more stability via dominate hip control on non-
preferred kicks. Another factor could also be related
to the speed of run-up in approach towards the kick
execution on each leg, although this was not
measured in this study. Also, the result of less
efficient use of sequential summation or transfer of
momentum (Ball, 2011) as indicated by the lower
knee angular velocity on non-preferred leg kicks. In
comparison to senior AF male athletes (Ball, 2011),
greater mean knee and hip angles, and knee angular
velocities were achieved for both preferred and non-
preferred kicks by elite women AF athletes.
Although, lower hip angular velocities were produced
in comparison to reported male AF athletes,
56 ± 65 °/s preferred leg and 138 ± 81 °/s non-
preferred leg (Ball, 2011).
Technical differences in kick strategies have been
demonstrated for thigh dominant or knee dominate
kickers during maximal distance kicking (Ball, 2008)
and further supported during goal kicking constraints
tasks (Blair et al., 2018). Although kick performance
indicators of foot velocity and kick distance were not
significantly different between each approach
suggesting similar kick performance outcomes can be
achieved with either movement strategy (Ball, 2008).
Looking into the thigh-knee angular velocity
continuum, Ball (2008) sorted the participant data to
provide indicative values for those athletes who use a
thigh or knee dominant strategy for preferred leg
distance kicking. In comparison, post-hoc evaluation
of the current elite women’s data was undertaken
using the hip and knee angular velocities. Further
analysis showed 14 out of the 15 athletes would be
considered using a knee dominant strategy on their
preferred leg. In contrast, on the non-preferred leg,
the majority of the group would be classified hip
dominant with data from 10 athletes of 15 indicating
this. This trend is consistent with findings in the
men’s data where on preferred leg kicks there is
increased contribution from the knee segment and
lower hip or thigh involvement. The opposite shown
on non-preferred leg kicks with greater hip segment
contribution than the knee for force generation
through the kick motion (Ball, 2011).
The support leg is important in maintaining
stability through the kick motion and plays a role in
the performance quality of a kick (Ball, 2013). A
moderate non-significant effect of less knee flexion in
the supporting leg at ball contact occurred on
preferred leg kicks, 37 ± 11.3 ° to non-preferred
kicks, 41 ± 8.3 °. This is in contrast to results found
Table 2: Impact characteristics for preferred and non-preferred drop punt distance kicks for elite women’s AF. Data reported
as mean and standard deviation (SD) values and results of statistical tests comparing preferred and non-preferred leg kicks.
Parameter
Preferred leg
Non-preferred leg
p
Effect Size (d)
mean
mean
SD
Foot velocity (m.s
-1
)
18.9
16.2
1.3
2.2
Very large
Ball velocity (m.s
-1
)
24.7
21.6
2.0
1.8
Very large
Ball: foot velocity ratio
1.31
1.33
0.07
0.2
Small
Support leg knee flexion (°)
37.0
41.0
8.3
0.4
Moderate
Knee angle at ball contact (°)
50.7
57.7
13.5
0.5
Moderate
Knee angular velocity (°/s)
13845
1014
230
1.1
Very large
Hip angle at ball contact (°)
34.3
48.8
15.8
1.0
Very large
Hip angular velocity (°/s)
94
126
66
0.7
Large
Pelvis linear velocity (m.s
-1
)
1.7
1.4
0.5
0.6
Large
* Significant difference (p < 0.05)
Biomechanical Characteristics of Elite Female Australian Rules Football Preferred and Non-preferred Drop Punt Kicks
35
in elite males across maximal kicks which showed
greater support leg flexion on preferred leg kicks, 43
± 6 °, than non-preferred leg kicks, 41 ± 11° (Ball,
2013). It has been suggested that greater support leg
knee flexion leads to a lower centre of gravity and
hence stability in the motion allowing for improved
kick accuracy (Dichiera et al., 2006). Although the
findings of Dichiera et al., (2006) are in contrast to
Ball (2013), where results indicated that a more
extended support leg knee on stance kick phase which
was maintained to ball contact phase related to higher
foot velocities and an improved drop punt distance
achieved. During match play, athletes are repeatedly
required to perform kicks with constraints against
both distance and accuracy, most commonly in goal
kicking (Blair et al., 2018). Kicking kinematics
measured across changing distance on goal kicks
showed that increased distances resulted in greater
knee extension on the support leg during the stance
phase (large effect size), and moderately higher foot
velocities, shank, and knee angular velocities (Blair
et al., 2018). The authors noted potential technical
difference for tasks in the literature when both kick
skill accuracy and distance constraints were
combined. Suggesting this related to the research
protocols used with accuracy tasks performed over
shorter distances at lower speeds compared to
research on maximal distance kicking causing athlete
to adopt differing techniques to suit each task (Blair
et al., 2018). For example, during maximal distance
high impact kicks the athlete adopts a more upright
position through the torso and consequently a higher
hip position to generate the faster foot velocities
required (Ball, 2013). Further work to assess how
these variables influence elite women’s kick
performance considering the altered match play styles
and therefore kick constraints compared to the men’s
game (Cust et al., 2019) would be of skill technique
coaching benefit.
Practically, as foot velocity is strongly correlated
to drop punt kick distance (Ball, 2008, 2011; Peacock
and Ball, 2017) and used as a strategy to control the
kick outcome (Peacock et al., 2017). A focus on
improving an athlete’s ability to generate high foot
velocities on both legs would benefit overall kick skill
and in-match tactical plays (Ball, 2008, 2011).
Furthermore, if footballers dominantly kick on one
leg, the increased repetition loading may create
imbalances in hip and lower limb strength which
could affect skill performance and increase
asymmetry load related injury (Hart et al., 2013,
2014). As the current results show differences in the
use of joint segments between the two legs, there is
potential for muscle asymmetries to develop (Ball,
2011; Hart et al., 2014). Strategies such as training the
non-preferred leg to recruit greater lower limb
involvement through skilled coaching cues and
targeted conditioning programs may again be of
benefit to improving kick skill performance across
both legs for tactical advantage in matches. Research
has indicated that combined technical and strength-
based interventions for AF athletes in training for the
drop punk kick serves as a constructive approach to
performance improvements (Ball, 2008; Hart et al.,
2014).
Further research should progress assessment of
the support leg mechanisms (Ball, 2013) and
kinematic characteristics of the kick impact phase for
elite women AF athletes in relation to kick accuracy
(Peacock et at., 2017). Greater understandings into
the underlying mechanisms for the differences
between both preferred and non-preferred leg kicks
for elite women, and between male and female
kinematics during kick execution would be important
to further quantify. As different movement
approaches exist for kick execution, future research
looking at the relationships between knee and thigh
(or hip) strategies for distance kicks and kick
accuracy would be of benefit to kick skill coaching
and individual conditioning. Knowing individual
athlete movement strategies would directly affect
coaching and conditioning due to the different muscle
recruitment processes for generating forces for each
approach (Ball, 2008). In-depth information within
this field could provide links to improve practices in
women’s AF kick skill coaching, individual athlete
injury patterns related to repeated kick execution, and
targeted strength and conditioning practices.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The biomechanical characteristics of elite female
Australian Rules football drop punts kicks for both
the preferred and non-preferred legs were quantified.
Preferred leg kicks produced faster foot velocities
prior to ball contact, greater knee angular velocities,
pelvis linear velocities, and smaller hip angular
velocities. Movement differences were found in hip
and lower limb joint segments between both kick legs
as greater knee angular velocity and pelvis linear
velocity characterised preferred leg kicks, yet a
higher hip angular velocity on non-preferred leg
kicks. Improved understandings of women’s AF kick
skill via kinematic technical analysis could be of
benefit in linking with targeted field coaching cues
and conditioning programs tailored to identified kick
skill and movement deficiencies.
icSPORTS 2019 - 7th International Conference on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support
36
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research authors would like to thank the research
assistants and technician who assisted in the data
collection, and the athletes who partook in the study.
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