E-Thesis 357 views 77 downloads
Investigating the Influence of Ball Orientation on the Foot–Ball Interaction in Rugby Union Place Kicking / SAMUEL JONES
Swansea University Author: SAMUEL JONES
Abstract
Rugby Union place kicking contributes 45% of all points scored and 5.7% of matches are decided by a single kick (Quarrie and Hopkins, 2015). Biomechanical investigations of the place kick have often focused on the movements of the kicker without consideration of how the ball is orientated on the tee...
| Published: |
Swansea
2021
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Research |
| Degree name: | MSc by Research |
| Supervisor: | Bezodis, Neil E. ; Heffernan, Shane M. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58709 |
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| Abstract: |
Rugby Union place kicking contributes 45% of all points scored and 5.7% of matches are decided by a single kick (Quarrie and Hopkins, 2015). Biomechanical investigations of the place kick have often focused on the movements of the kicker without consideration of how the ball is orientated on the tee and whether that might interact with the kicker’s technique. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to investigate how ball orientation interacts with kick technique and performance to inform the ball setup preferences of kickers. An initial study identified the ball orientation preferences of international kickers at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and assessed kick performance when kicks were categorised by ball orientation. Binomial logistic regression analysis, which also accounted for additional situational factors, revealed that kicks taken with a slanted orientation (approximately 45°) had a greater predicted kick success (90.0%) than with a forward orientation (approximately 15°; 84.4%) and a horizontal orientation (approximately 75°; 86.8%). The second study experimentally altered ball orientation to investigate the effects on kickers’ technique, impact characteristics and resulting kick performance. There were few clear effects of ball orientation on the kicking foot swing plane characteristics or the kicking leg shank and foot segment orientations at initial foot–ball impact, suggesting that each kicker maintained relatively consistent ‘end-point’ characteristics of technique. However, impact location on the ball generally varied significantly (p < 0.05) with ball orientation and when kickers struck the ball closer to the belly, impact efficiency was typically improved. This thesis provides information which could help to inform the ball orientation preferences of place kickers and coaches. There does not appear to be one ball orientation that results in the best performance for all kickers, but exploration of a ball orientation which encourages impact nearer the belly may improve impact efficiency. |
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| Item Description: |
A selection of third party content is redacted or is partially redacted from this thesis due to copyright restrictions. |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |