Discovery of a Sweet Spot on the Foot with a Smart Wearable Soccer Boot Sensor That Maximizes the Chances of Scoring a Curved Kick in Soccer

Franz Konstantin Fuss; Peter Düking; Yehuda Weizman

doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00063

Discovery of a Sweet Spot on the Foot with a Smart Wearable Soccer Boot Sensor That Maximizes the Chances of Scoring a Curved Kick in Soccer

Front Physiol. 2018 Feb 13:9:63. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00063. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Franz Konstantin Fuss¹, Peter Düking², Yehuda Weizman¹

Affiliations

¹ Smart Equipment Engineering and Wearable Technology Research Program, Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Integrative and Experimental Training Science, Institute for Sport Sciences, Julius-Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Abstract

This paper provides the evidence of a sweet spot on the boot/foot as well as the method for detecting it with a wearable pressure sensitive device. This study confirmed the hypothesized existence of sweet and dead spots on a soccer boot or foot when kicking a ball. For a stationary curved kick, kicking the ball at the sweet spot maximized the probability of scoring a goal (58-86%), whereas having the impact point at the dead zone minimized the probability (11-22%). The sweet spot was found based on hypothesized favorable parameter ranges (center of pressure in x/y-directions and/or peak impact force) and the dead zone based on hypothesized unfavorable parameter ranges. The sweet spot was rather concentrated, independent of which parameter combination was used (two- or three-parameter combination), whereas the dead zone, located 21 mm from the sweet spot, was more widespread.

Keywords: center of pressure; dead spot; impact force; pressure sensor; probability of scoring a goal; smart soccer boot; sweet spot; wearable technology.