KICK IMPACT CHARACTERISTICS OF JUNIOR KICKERS

Impact is important to kicking performance and while differences have been found between kick distances and between preferred and non-preferred leg kicks, no work has examined junior kickers. This study examined impact characteristics of the Australian football (AF) drop punt kick for juniors and compared these data with seniors from Smith et al. (2009). Twenty one junior AF players performed a maximum distance kick. The foot, ball and shank were digitised from 6000 Hz video to calculate seven foot/ball parameters. Junior players produced significantly smaller foot and ball speeds but not foot to ball speed ratios compared to senior players. Work was also significantly different due to lesser force being applied to the ball. Junior players should focus on increasing foot speed and force on the ball to increase kick distance