Author

Seunguk Han

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Comments

Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies of Bridgewater State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Athletic Training, 2018.

Degree Program

Athletic Training

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Soccer is one of the high intermittent sports, in which the athletes perform various activities of different intensities over a prolonged period. One of the most important and potentially dangerous skills in soccer is heading because it can potentially cause concussion if it is not executed correctly. Even though coaches and practitioners recognize that heading the ball is one of the factors to cause concussion, there are few studies that have examined the kinematics of head and neck motion while performing heading skill. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of short period fatigue on the biomechanical performance of soccer heading skill. Six competitive college male soccer players (age, 21.5 ± 3.15 years; height, 1.76 ± 0.06 m; mass, 71.38 ± 9.55 kg) participated in this study. A standard two-dimensional kinematic analysis was conducted using a high-speed video camera operated at 120 Hz during heading performance. A 90-second fatigue protocol soccer course was set up to mimic a real soccer game situation. All soccer players completed fatigue protocol five sets to induce fatigue. The mechanics of heading skills were recorded prior to the fatigue protocol and then after each fatigue protocol. Six joint reflective markers were placed on the right side of each participant’s body. The statistical analysis between the baseline and after each fatigue protocol data was conducted using one-way repeated measure ANOVA at α = 0.05 and followed up by t-test with Bonferroni adjustment if a significant difference was found. The result showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the heading ball velocity and acceleration, cervical spine and hip joint angle, velocity and acceleration at the time of ball contact. The results of this study suggest that heading ball velocity and acceleration, biomechanics of cervical spine and hip joint may not indicate fatigue even if athletes were fatigued during practices or games. Moreover, recreationally active male individuals may require more than five sets of 90-second fatigue protocol soccer course to induce fatigue if research or training personnel intend to use this protocol to study changes in heading ball velocity and acceleration and cervical spine and hip joint angle, velocity, and acceleration at the time of ball contact.

Committee/Advisor(s)

Tong-Ching Tom Wu (chair)

Suanne Mauer-Starks

Jennifer Mead

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