THE IMPACT PHASE OF DROP PUNT KICKING: VALIDATION AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA OF A MECHANICAL KICKING LIMB

The purpose of this study was to validate a mechanical kicking limb and analyse changes in foot speed on impact characteristics of drop punt kicking. Foot speed was recorded as 9.1 - 21.2 mls, and covered a range of kick distances. Ball speed (13.0 - 29.7 m/s), contact distance (10.7 - 20.2 cm) and contact time (14.75 - 11.75 ms) were comparable to drop punt kicking. lmpact efficiency (F:B ratio = 1.37 - I .48, coefficient of restitution = 0.66 - 0.79) were high, caused by near perfect rigidity in the design of the limb. Overall, the limb was found to be a valid representation of a human performer. Foot speed displayed significant relationships with ball speed (r = 0.998), contact time (r = -0.89), contact distance (r = 0.99) and F:B ratio (r = -0.694). The relationship between foot speed and COR (-0.347) was not significant