Foot morphology of Turkish football players according to foot preference

Abstract

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Foot morphology and foot preference are important factors in football player’s performance. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the foot morphology of elite football players with different foot preferences. 407 male football players participated in this study. 328 of them preferred their right foot, while 79 of them preferred the left one. Eleven anthropometric measurements were taken from each foot with standard anthropometric methods. Foot length, T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 lengths, foot circumference of right and left feet and right foot width of right foot preference group were higher than those of left foot preference group, which is statistically significant (p < 0.05). Left foot measurements of right foot preference group were interestingly higher than those of the right side. It was suggested that these data may be useful to define the foot morphology of elite football players.

Key words: Foot morphology, football, measurements.