Correlations between ball velocity and accuracy for dominant and non-dominant leg kick in U19 football players

Kicking performance is an important determinant of aplayer’s success during a soccer match. It is often dividedinto ball velocity and kicking accuracy and it is performedwith either dominant or non-dominant leg. Although bothcomponents are crucial, little evidence has been providedregarding their mutual relationship, according to legdominance. Thus, the main purpose of the present studywas to examine the correlations between ball velocity andkicking accuracy as well as their differences in relation tothe dominant and non-dominant leg in elite U19 soccer.We recruited 37 soccer players competing in the 1stCroatian Football League for players under 19 years of age(U19). Ball velocity and kicking accuracy were objectivelyevaluated using the 356 Soccer Shooting Test (356-SST) fordominant and non-dominant leg.Ball velocity did not significantly differ betweendominant and non-dominant leg, while kicking accuracyexhibited better results when using dominant leg (p < 0.001).In the total sample, the correlation between ball velocityand shooting accuracy was trivial and positive (r = 0.09, p= 0.438). However, even smaller and negative correlationsbetween ball velocity and shooting accuracy for dominant(r = -0.05, p = 0.763) and non-dominant leg (r = -0.01, p =0.977) were observed.In summary, null correlations between ball velocity andkicking accuracy occur, irrespective of leg dominance. Thiswill suggest that faster ball velocity does not necessarily mean a more accurate kick in soccer players. Thus,the velocity-accuracy tradeoff in soccer needs furtherinvestigation.