AUTHOR=Fuss Franz Konstantin , Düking Peter , Weizman Yehuda TITLE=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 JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.00063 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2018.00063 ISSN=1664-042X 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.