Additionally, as expected, higher muscle loading was found in kicking leg, as the activation of iliacus, vastus medialis,
gastrocnemius and hip adductors was significantly larger
than those in non-kicking side. Further, the researchers
compared the EMG of instep kick to that of side-foot kick
and discovered that there were significant differences
between the two types of soccer kick. The study suggested
that injury prevention strategies should be linked to var-
ious techniques.Finally, EMG reading can also be used to reflect a kick
direction or accuracy. It is known that one of the EMG
uses is to quantify the neural-muscular control or coordi-
nation among muscles involved in a movement, EMG
data should demonstrate dissimilarity between kicks
intending to different targets. The study done by Scurr
and his colleagues did prove that EMG reading of the
same muscle varied depending on target selection [24].
The results showed that kicks to the right targets pro-
duced significantly greater muscle activity than those
towards the left targets. Additionally, kicks towards the
top-right target had significantly greater muscle activity
than that towards the top-left. Among all the conditions
tested, kicking to the top-right corner of the goal demonstrated the highest quadriceps EMG level than those
towards the rest corners. This result suggested that a top-right instep kick would be the most powerful kick for
accelerating the ball; therefore, using this kick in a game
would leave less time for goalkeepers to react.Again, like 2D motion analysis, EMG (even synchro-
nized with 2D motion capture) could only divulge certain
aspects related to maximal instep soccer kick. Especially,
most of the previous studies focused on lower limbs’
movement and/or muscles’ activities during kicking, a holistic picture of the body control as well as the upper body
function remained still unknown to researchers and
practitioners