THE EFFECT OF ALTERING DISTANCE ON GOAL-KICKING TECHNIQUE IN AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL

Goal-kicks are taken from different positions during a game in Australian Football (AF), which can influence the difficulty of scoring a goal. This study examined the effect of altering kicking distance on goal-kicking technique in 18 AF players. Players performed 10 goal-kicks from 30 m and 40 m directly in-front of goals and kicking kinematics were measured using the Xsens MVN inertial measurement system (240 Hz). Increasing distance resulted in substantially more support-leg knee extension (\u3e 3.8°, large effect) during the stance phase, with moderately higher foot speeds (1.9 m.s-1), shank (93 deg/s) and knee (186 deg/s) angular velocities at ball contact. Finding from this research have important implications for the conditioning and coaching of the skill; when kicking further from goals, increasing knee extension (support-leg), foot speed, shank and knee angular velocities are recommended