A Preliminary Study on Factors Influences the Design of Soccer Shoes Among Malaysian Soccer Players

Abstract

Soccer is a contact sport, so a soccer shoe's design is important because it affects the kick's accuracy, speed, and ability to avoid foot injuries. A research study with an appropriate experimental design and precise execution is necessary to produce high-quality results. A pilot study can be conducted as an external pilot study apart from the main study or as an internal pilot study integrated into the main study's research plan. This paper will review the research conducted from a pilot project to identify the design factors such as anatomy, anthropometry, biomechanics and physical characteristics for a soccer shoe popular amongst Malaysian soccer players. The objectives of this research are to determine the accuracy of the questionnaire items. The initial sample consisted of 50 Men soccer players from Peninsular Malaysian states are randomly selected from various levels of the game and have at least one year of playing experience. This study used the quantitative method, whereby questionnaires were applied to obtain information from respondents and findings were analyzed using SPSS software version 23.0 to calculate the Cronbach's Alpha reliability index. The validation of the instrument involves a total of two expert panels. A total of 84-item survey is divided into 4 sections, covering the demographic information of the respondents, their professional backgrounds, their opinions on soccer shoes, and their perceptions on shoe design elements. This study has shown that 81 items were appropriate to be utilized to measure the selection of soccer shoes design. Overall, these results indicate that the analysis has statistically proved that the items in this instrument has a high degree of validity and reliability and can be used for study’s actual sample. The high value of the alpha coefficients suggest that the instruments is very reliable and capable of determining the accuracy of the questionnaire items.