Relationship between ball speed in instep and inside foot kicks and anthropometric, motor, and anaerobic performance parameters in male football players

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Background and Study Aim. Football performance often depends on the ability to execute powerful and precise kicks. Understanding the factors influencing ball speed can help optimize training methods. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between ball speed in instep and inside foot kicks and some anthropometric, motor characteristics, and anaerobic performance parameters in male football players. Material and Methods. This study was conducted with 17 volunteer football players from the university football team. Their average age was 23.11 ±1.61 years. They had an average height of 177.52 ±6.14 cm, an average body weight of 76.25 ±5.74 kg, and an average body mass index of 24.20 ±1.55 kg/m². Participants underwent measurements for various anthropometric characteristics, including height, leg length, body weight, and thigh and leg circumferences. Motor characteristics measured included 30m sprint speed, vertical jump height, horizontal jump distance, and leg and grip strength. Anaerobic power was calculated using the Lewis formula. To determine ball speed, a radar (Sports Radar 3300) was used. The Shapiro-Wilk test determined the normality distribution, and the Levene test assessed variance homogeneity. Since the data showed parametric characteristics, Pearson correlation analysis was used. Statistical significance was initially set at p<0.05. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 21. Results. According to the findings, statistically significant differences were found between instep kick ball speed and inside foot kick ball speed (r = 0.65). Significant differences were also observed between leg length and shoe size (r = 0.61), and between anaerobic power and leg length (r = 0.67), thigh circumference (r = 0.51), and leg circumference (r = 0.53) (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found among other parameters (p > 0.05). Conclusions. No significant relationships were found between ball speed in instep and inside foot kicks and anthropometric, motor, and anaerobic parameters in university male football players. This result may be attributed to the varying levels of the club teams to which the players of the university football team belong.