Comparison of Preferred foot and Non-preferred foot Soccer Technique Level of Junior Players: Improvement of Preferred and Non-preferred Foot Techniques in Junior Soccer Players

Abstract

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Techniques play an important role in the development of young soccer players. Performing the techniques in a perfect manner with both feet is essential for a good player. The purpose of the present study was to compare the preferred and non-preferred foot technical level of junior soccer players. Fifty male soccer players of the 13–18 age groups from Sree Ayyankali Memorial Govt. Model Residential Sports School in Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kerala, India were randomly selected as subjects for the study. The variables selected for the study were Goal Kicking for Accuracy, Ground Passing for Accuracy and Air Passing for Accuracy. The tests selected for this study were the three H. A. Van Rossum and D. Wijbenga tests. The subjects were tested as per the procedure of the test in order to collect the data on the selected variables. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation (SD) were calculated in order to get a basic idea of the data distribution. A t-test revealed that the mean difference between preferred and non-preferred foot was significant (P<0.01) for all the selected variables. It was concluded that the preferred foot scores of the subjects were significantly higher than the non-preferred foot scores on all the selected soccer techniques. It is recommended that a systematic training program may be chalked out for the improvement of both the preferred and non-preferred foot techniques for soccer players of different age and achievement level.