Biomechanical process of an in-step soccer kick

Wickstrom (1975) has described the mature form of the kicking skill. It is characterised by placement of the supporting leg at the side and slightly behind the stationary ball. The kicking leg is first taken backwards and the leg flexes at the knee. The forward motion is initiated by rotating around the hip of the supporting leg and by bringing the kicking leg thigh forwards. The leg is still flexing at the knee at this stage. Once this initial action has taken place, the thigh begins to decelerate until it is essentially motionless at ball contact. During this deceleration, the shank vigorously extends about the knee to almost full extension at ball contact. The leg remains straight through ball contact and begins to flex during the follow through. The foot will often reach above the level of the hip during the follow through (Lees, 2003).