Gender differences in instep soccer kicking biomechanics, investigated through a 3D human motion tracker system

BACKGROUND: This study aims at describing and comparing each other male and female soccer players kicking instep a stationary ball. The different measures we collected by the 3D motion capture system Movit G1 and the High-Speed Camera (240 fps) were considered as dependent variables, whereas the gender was considered as the independent one.METHODS: Twenty soccer well trained non-professional players: 10 men (age: 25.3 +/- 6.5 yrs: height 1.80 +/- 0.07 m; body mass 76.9 +/- 13.2 kg) and 10 women (age: 19 +/- 3.34 yrs; height 1.64 +/- 0.07 m; body mass 58.2 +/- 7.2 kg) volunteered to participate in the study.RESULTS: Gender differences were found, with a statistical significance (P<0.05) or interesting magnitude (Cohen d>0.5). The most relevant ones were the differences in hip extension of the kicking leg when the foot of the supporting one touches the ground, just before the impact on the ball (independent sample t-Test P=0.03; Cohen d=1.64) and the speed of the ball, reached immediately after kicking (P<0.001; d=1.23).CONCLUSIONS: These results, together with the greater pelvic acceleration shown by men compared to women, highlight the need to develop a gender-differentiated training model, in order to customize the kicking technique in women and to reduce the likelihood, currently higher than for men, of kicking related injuries.