115 The effect of foot velocity and impact point on kicked ball velocity in soccer volley kick

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of the ball impact in soccer volley kick. Nine experienced male soccer players performed volley kicks. The ball was projected by soccer machine at three speeds (9.0m/s for Low speed condition: 11.5m/s for Middle speed condition: 15.0m/s for High speed condition). The volley kick performances were recorded with three high-speed cameras. Ball velocity after impact had a significant correlation with the foot velocity in each speed condition. Ball-foot speed ratio (= ball speed after impact / foot speed before impact) had a quadratic relation to the impact point of the ball on the foot along the short-axis and it was high when the ball impact point was near the mid-sagittal plane of the foot.