Kinematic comparison of the preferred and non-preferred foot punt kick

Kicking with the non-preferred leg is important in Australian Football and becoming important in the rugby codes. The aim of this study was to examine differences between preferred and non-preferred leg kicking in the drop punt kick. Seventeen elite Australian Football players performed kicks with the preferred and non-preferred leg. Optotrak Certus collected kinematic data of the kick leg and pelvis (200 Hz) from kick leg toe-off until ball contact. Foot speed, knee and shank angular velocity at ball contact, and pelvis range of motion were significantly larger for the preferred leg (P < 0.05). In contrast, hip and thigh angular velocity at ball contact and hip range of motion were significantly larger for the non-preferred leg. This indicates different movement patterns, with preferred-leg kicks making greater use of the pelvis, knee, and shank while non-preferred leg kicks rely relatively more on the hip and thigh (P < 0.05). Reasons for this difference might be due to locking degrees of freedom or sub-optimal sequencing in the non-preferred leg. The thigh-knee continuum identified by Ball (2008) was also evident in this study. Findings have implications for training non-preferred leg kicking for performance and injury prevention.