Effect of Fatigue on the Kinematic Variables of Jump Header Performance in Soccer

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cardiovascular fatigue on the lower and upper body kinematic and kinetic movements while performing jump heading in soccer. Kinematic and kinetic analyses consist of ball velocity, jump height, maximal leg power, vertical force, knee extension angular velocity take off, trunk flexion, trunk extension angular velocity, trunk flexion angular velocity, knee flexion, head velocity, and landing. In this study a quantitative descriptive method was used. The study involved 21 male university level players as participants. The participants had the following characteristics: a mean age 18.1 ± 2.6 years; height 1.66 ± 0.04 m, body mass 60.6 ± 4.26 kg, BMI 22.1 ± 1.2 kg/m2, VO2Max 45.4 ± 3.05 m/kg/min, and mean maximum heart beats 187.0 ± 4.63 bpm. Furthermore, there were significant differences in ball velocity, jump height, maximum leg power, maximum trunk flexion, head velocity, and feet landing indicators (p = 0.033, p = 0.041, p = 0.034, p = 0.042, p = 0.041, and p = 0.023, respectively) with the p-value = 0.000< 0.05. We recommend that coaches and athletes strengthen their core muscles. In addition, cervical and neck muscles should become the focus in complementing exercise programs.