Penalty Feet Positioning Rule Modification and Laterality Effect on Soccer Goalkeepers’ Diving Kinematics

Abstract

In 2019, a new rule was applied in soccer. It allows the goalkeeper to have only one foot or part of it on the goal line when the kicker hits the ball, unlike the previous rule that the goalkeeper should have both feet on the line. The purpose of the present study was to analyze how the change in the rule and the lower limbs laterality influences the dive performance. Six specialized goalkeepers participated in the research. They performed a total of 20 dives in the laboratory and had their force and impulse manifested by the lower limb and displacement/velocity data from the center of body mass collected through kinematic analysis.The side preference was collected through an inventory. The results showed that goalkeepers dive further (p < 0.001) and faster (p < 0.001) with the change of the rule. The lateral preference influenced only the mediolateral (p = 0.02) and resultant (p = 0.03) displacements, the highest values were found for the non-dominant lower limb side. Concluding, the goalkeepers performed better with the new rule in the analyzed variables and the lower limb preference has influenced only the mediolateraland resultant displacement.