The relationship between Loughborough soccer passing test and ankle joint range of motion in amateur soccer players

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Loughborough soccer passing technique ability and ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion joint range of motion in amateur soccer players.  A study was conducted with 38 male amateur (age; 20.18 ± 1.83 years, height; 179.29 ± 5.60 cm, weight; 70.61 ± 9.40 kg) soccer players to assess their physical abilities using various tests. The tests included Loughborough soccer passing and ankle dorsi/plantar flexion. The assumption of normality was made by employing the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Since the data were normally distributed, Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationship between variables. A significant negative correlation between the Loughborough soccer passing ankle dorsiflexion right (r= -.463; p<0.01), ankle dorsiflexion left (r= -.458; p<0.01), ankle plantar flexion right (r= -.354, p<0.05). A moderate negative correlation was observed between the Loughborough soccer passing test and ankle dorsiflexion right-left and ankle plantar flexion right range of motion. Based on these results, coaches can improve football players' passing technical skills by increasing their ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion joint range of motion.