Motor Programs as Indicators of Penalty Direction in Soccer

Abstract

Introduction: Many football games are decided on penalties and usually in championship final games. When seeking to anticipate movements, differences in amplitude can harm players because the informational movement appears to be spread "globally" throughout the action and should be coded at several levels. Thus, it would be interesting to analyze the entire period of the kick, since the player begins his run to approach the ball to recognize the motor patterns used in the kick that identify his direction. Objective: The objective of this study is to identify patterns of behavior in penalty kicks that may indicate the direction of their action / kick and in my moment they appear. Methodology: The sample consisted of 21 subjects hitting a penalty kick, 18 males and 3 females with an average age of 22.18 ± 2.44 years and two goalkeepers with college football experience. The tests consisted of a battery of two penalty kicks for each subject in order to score. The kicks were recorded by a video camera with a front view of the goal goal and the back of the batter. The kick phases were divided into the starting leg position; first step leg; angle of the elbow in relation to the body seen from behind; angle of the elbow in relation to the displacement line seen from above; direction of the tip of the supporting foot and position on the goal where the kick was. Each kick was preceded by a start signal. The data were analyzed from the registration of each variable and the position of the goal in which the ball was kicked, considering it in three sectors: left, right and central. Results: The main results indicated that the variable “Leg of the first step” had 81% of the kicks associated with the direction of the goal; 52.4% of second kicks had repeated the pattern of behavior and 84.6% had repeated the pattern of behavior regardless of the goal position. The variable “Elbow angle in relation to the body seen from behind” had 81.8% repeated behavior pattern regardless of the goal position and the variable “Elbow angle in relation to the displacement line seen from above” had 81% association with the sector of the goal in which the ball was kicked; 52.4% of second kicks had repeated the pattern of behavior and 91.7% had repeated the pattern of behavior regardless of the goal position. Conclusions: The main conclusions indicate that it is possible to relate the kick location with the batter's body information; the start of the race seems to indicate that there is a prior intention of movement programs; the decision of where to hit the penalty appears to be made before contact with the ball and more closely to the placement of the support foot and with this relationship, the size of the goal to be defended by the goalkeeper could be reduced, increasing the possibility of defense.