Introduction: Football is one of the most popular sports in all age groups globally. High physical strains associated with football participation increase the incidence of injuries and influence the biomechanics of the lower limbs. Purpose: To determine possible differences in hip range of motion, lower limb frontal alignement, gastrocnemius muscle stiffness, and foot posture between football players and non-athletes. The purpose was also to establish the correlation between the parameters in each group. Methods: The study group consisted of 33 participants: 17 professional football players and 16 non-athletes. Hip range of motion (pasive internal and external rotation in extended hip), frontal alignement of lower limbs (goniometer testing), gastrocnemius muscle stiffness (by Silfverskiöld Test) and Foot posture index (FPI) were measured. All parameters were compared between the two study groups by Mann-Whitney U-test, while possible correlations of them within each subgroup were tested by Spearman test. Value of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Compared to non-athletes, football players had significantly lower internal rotation of hips. They also had shortened gastrocnemius muscle and valgus deformation of the lower limbs. Statistically significant correlation between hip range of motion and FPI was confirmed in the subgroup of football players. Discussion and conclusion: Compared to the non-athletes, football players have reduced internal rotation of hips, shortened gastrocnemius muscle, and minimal increased valgus of the lower limbs. The results also showed that decreased internal hip rotation increas the likelihood of supine foot position in football players. The actual significance of these conclusions needs further exploration on larger sample sizes.
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