The Cruyff Turn.

The Legs

Once rotation is completed, the athlete now has to quickly accelerate towards the ball to continue dribbling.

Flexion occurs at the knee joints of the right leg during this action.

Extension occurs in the knee joint of the left leg.

The Upper body

The Legs

The Feet

The Rotation

Again, once rotation is complete, flexion will occur at the vertebral column as part of the acceleration mechanics.

During the follow through, rotation continues from previous stage until the body is facing the direction the ball is traveling.

At the left leg, medial rotation occurs as the leg is twisting towards the midline of the body.

As well as this there is adduction at the left leg to make contact with the ball.

This must occur to get the foot in the correct position to make contact with the ball.

There are 3 movements that occur at the left foot to move the ball back in the opposite direction:

• Plantar flexion occurs to increase the surface area that makes contact with the ball.

• Medial rotation begins to stop the ball moving in the direct it is travelling.

• Inversion occurs at the ankle to flick the ball back in the opposite direction.

The Arms

There is adduction at the shoulder joints of both arms as this naturally aids the sharpness of the turn which increases the effectiveness of the move.

Follow Through

Contact

The Positives

The Rotation

• Flexion and abduction at the shoulder and elbow joints creates an accurate representation of shooting motion

• Rotation of hips, upper body is controlled and smooth creating increasing effectiveness of movement.

During this phase of the turn, the athlete must being to rotate their whole body.

Rotation begins at the upper body which relays to the hips then finally, the right leg.

The Upper Body

The Negatives

As the foot plants on the ground, the upper body begins to rotate in preperation for the next phase of the movement.

It is key that this action doesn't begin too early as it will allow the defender to clock on to the fake shot.

• Planted foot should be 90 degrees to the initial traveling direction.

• This leads to the planted foot having to lift off the ground and then replant, delaying the acceleration away after the turn.

The Knees

Good practice

Flexion continues at the knee joint of the left leg to simulate the shooting motion in an attempt to deceive the opponent.

Foot Planting

• Ensure video quality is high

• Ensure video is shot from correct angle/view

• Ensure athlete fully understands the skill

• When filming think ahead about the areas you may need to film

• To analysis the footage captured, the app hudl was used which allowed annotations and slow motion to be added to the video

The Feet

Conclusion

Plantar flexion occurs at the ankle of the right foot as it makes contact with the floor.

In conclusion, the athletes technique was good however there are a few things that could be done to make the Cruyff turn more effective. Improving overall strength will help to increase the efficiency of this movement and therefore make the move more effective.

Doing weight exercises with the lower body such as leg curl and leg extension can help to improve agility (Welch, 2017).

Torso rotation machines can help to improve the core strength of an athlete (Johnson, 2013).

References

The Cruyff Turn.

Connolly, C. (2016). 'Pundit Area' . 'The Predicted Arsenal XI To Face A Bournemouth Side Without Wilshere'. [Online]. Available from: http://www.punditarena.com/football/english-football/arsenal/cconnolly/the-predicted-arsenal-xi-to-face-a-bournemouth-side-without-wilshere/ [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Coreless, L. (2016). 'Daily Mirror. 'Meet Johan Cruyff's very first victim of his famous Cruyff turn: Former Sweden defender Jan Olsson'. [Online]. Available from: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/meet-johan-cruyffs-very-first-7622273. [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Johnson, J. (2013). 'Livestrong'. 'What Muscles Does the Rotary Torso Exercise Machine Work?'. [Online]. Available from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/527657-what-muscles-does-the-rotary-torso-exercise-machine-work/ [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Mich, H. (2011).' Livestrong'. ' PLantar Flexion when running'. [Online]. Available from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/470532-plantar-flexion-when-running/ [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Prior. (2017). 'Pintrest'. 'David Beckham'. [Online]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/537265430523710913/ [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Stone, C. (2016). 'Telegraph'. 'Football skills school: how to do the Cruyff turn'. [Online]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/03/24/football-skills-school-how-to-do-the-cruyff-turn/ [Accessed 15th April 2017].

Welch, B. (2017). 'Four Four Two'. 'Improve Strenght, Balance and Agility'. [Online]. Available from: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/performance/training/improve-strength-balance-and-agility [Accessed 15th April 2017].

The Upper Body

Take

Off

During this stage, extension occurs at the vertebral column which causes the upper body to revert to an upright position.

Doing this will provide the body with stability for the next phases of the movement.

Biomechanics Presentation

By Axl Rice

The Knees

The right leg extends fully at the knee joint during take off to travel past the ball ready to be position correctly for the next phase.

There is flexion at the knee joint of the left leg to simulate the mechanics of the shooting leg during a shot.

Introduction

• This presentation will aim to break down an example of the Cruyff turn and identify improvement as well as comparison to a professional model.

• The Cruyff turn is a move used by players in an attempt to gain space from a defender.

• The turn was named after Johan Cruyff who first performed the skill playing for Holland in the 1974 World Cup against Sweden (Corless, 2016).

• The reason this turn is so effective is due to way the athlete shapes their body before the turn, simulating the approach stages of a pass or a shot. As stated by Stone (2016), this causes the defender to commit themselves into a body position where they are left static, which means the attacker can turn and accelerate quickly away creating space between the two players.

Approach Phase

The Technique

The Knees

The Upper Body

There is flexion at the knees again as the running motion continues during the approach phase.

Flexion of the vertebral column which again simulates the early phase of a shot.

Address Position

The Arms

Abduction remains at the shoulders with the addition of slight flexion.

The purpose of this is to begin to simulate the motion of shooting.

(Prior, 2017)

The Feet

The Arms

Abduction at the shoulder Joints.

Flexion at the elbow joints.

These two movements provide the athlete with stability and also protection from opponents.

Plantar Flexion of both feet.

Plantar Flexion is the movement that allows the athlete to push off when running (Mich, 2011).

The Knees

(Connolly, 2016)

Flexion at both knee joints.

Flexion at the knee joints is a vital component of the running technique.