Practical Findings

 

Injury Risk Implications

The curvilinear run up showed the athlete use a greater trunk and hip rotation. If an athlete uses this technique frequently, it can increase stress on hip structures structures such as the adductor. Common injuries in the AFL include adductor strains, hip strains and groin pain. By using a curvature run up, it will only increase the risk of these injuries that may results in players missing games. In addition to hip injuries, the technique involves increased rotational forces through the knee joint which applies additional load on the ACL and MCL (Cochrane et al., 2007). An ACL injury has a minimum 12-month recovery time which can be detrimental to an AFL players career. Whilst a curvature approach can enhance performance by increasing kicking distance, it must be noted that it can increase the risk of players suffering injuries.

Use in other sports

A curvature run up can be used to enhance performance in other kicking sports such as rugby and soccer. Both of these sports have game situations such as free kicks, shots at goal and penalties that allow the kicker time to take a run up and strike the ball. A rugby player might be faced with a long-distance conversion from the boundary. The findings from the AFL study supports that the rugby player can open their hips towards the target and use a curvilinear approach where rotational force production can contribute to ball velocity and distance. In soccer, a goalie may have to kick the ball out of its area in the 90^th minute to win the game. In this situation, the ball needs to travel as far away from goal as possible to ensure the opposition does not have an opportunity to score. The findings tell us that the goalie can gain more distance on the ball by using a curvilinear approach.