ReviewSports (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Why Hand-Wrist Bandaging Could Improve Performance in Elite Soccer Players? A Scoping Review on the Biomechanical Rationale of Upper Limb Role in Kicking.
Review in Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSoccer kicking biomechanics has traditionally focused on lower limbs, overlooking whole-body integration. Three-dimensional motion analyses have demonstrated that upper limbs contribute substantially through tension arc formation, counterbalancing, and kinetic chain coordination. The hand-wrist complex may influence performance through proprioceptive pathways, yet this remains untested.
methodsFollowing PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus (inception-February 2026). Peer-reviewed studies examining kicking mechanics, kinetic chains, and joint proprioception were included. Two reviewers independently screened records and extracted data. Narrative synthesis was used to organize findings across four thematic categories: upper limb biomechanics, kinetic chain principles, wrist-hand stability, and proprioceptive enhancement.
resultsFrom 3847 records, 51 studies (1988-2025) were included. Upper limbs are essential for kicking through tension arc formation, energy transfer, and balance maintenance. Kinetic chains operate bidirectionally; available evidence suggests that proximal segment deficits are associated with substantially increased compensatory demands at distal segments. External joint support has been shown to enhance proprioception and force perception.
conclusionsThis scoping review identifies a theoretical rationale and a critical research gap: no direct empirical evidence exists that hand-wrist bandaging affects kicking performance. Evidence from adjacent domains (upper limb kicking biomechanics, kinetic chain theory and proprioceptive enhancement with external supports) provides indirect, translational support for the plausibility of a hypothesis that remains entirely untested. Future research should employ within-subject crossover designs in elite soccer players to determine whether this intervention produces any measurable effect. Practical recommendations to athletes or practitioners are premature and are not supported by the current evidence base.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.