Messi Body Feint

If we really break down Messi’s body feint from a biomechanics / neurophysiology perspective,
there are at least four phases and multiple micro-sub-movements inside a single “feint.”

Below, I’ll organize it in this order:

1. Biomechanics by movement phase →
2. Ground reaction force (GRF) and joint torque →
3. Neuromuscular / cognitive system

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1. Overview of the movement: Twisting direction with “micro trajectories”

A body feint can usually be divided into the following four phases:

1. Approach – Controlling speed and angle as you close in on the defender
2. Preparation & deception – Lowering the center of gravity (CoG) and using the upper body to show a fake direction
3. Direction change – Whipping the CoG quickly toward the true direction
4. Propulsion & exit – Accelerating explosively to create separation from the defender

Messi’s characteristics are:

• Very small but fast rotations of the core and pelvis
• Short ground contact time
• A low CoG, which means a small moment of inertia

Combined, these allow him to finish his change of direction about 0.2–0.3 seconds faster than players with slower turns.

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2. Phase-by-phase biomechanics: What the joints and muscles actually do

2-1. Approach phase: “Preparing the brake without killing the speed”

Key points

• Running speed: He usually goes into the body feint from a dribble speed of about 4–6 m/s.
• Step length: As he closes the distance to the defender, he shortens his stride,
  • entering a sort of “aiming” phase so he can place the foot precisely next to the ball when changing direction.

Joints / posture

• CoG (center of gravity): With a height of 170 cm and his playing stance, his CoG is roughly 0.9 m above the ground—quite low.
• Upper body: Slightly leaning forward (hip hinge), with flexed knees and ankles,
  • a state of “mass is going forward, but the feet are always ready to brake.”

The essence of this approach phase is:

Maintaining as much straight-line speed as possible
while already having the knee/ankle angles that let you stop or cut at any moment.

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2-2. Preparation & deception: Briefly throwing the CoG toward the fake direction

(1) Lowering the CoG + foot placement

• The plant foot (usually the left) lands slightly in front and to the side of the ball, a bit wider than shoulder width.
• Ankle dorsiflexion + knee flexion ≈ 40–60°.
• With hip flexion, the CoG drops further,
  • preparing to absorb vertical GRF
  • and to redirect that force into horizontal/ lateral directions.

At this moment the entire leg is like a compressed spring, ready to use the stretch–shortening cycle (SSC).

(2) Shoulder dip – visual cue

• The shoulders and head tilt and rotate 5–15° toward the fake direction.
• His gaze also briefly shifts that way → this misleads the defender’s visual perception system.
• In reality, the CoG doesn’t move that much;
  • he minimally twists the upper body and pelvis so it looks as though the CoG has shifted.

So in this preparation phase, what Messi is really doing is:

“Without actually committing his body,
he makes the defender’s brain believe his CoG has already moved.”

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2-3. Direction change: Using GRF and torque to “bend” his momentum

Once the defender is tricked and his CoG starts moving in the fake direction, Messi makes the real change of direction.

(1) Turning horizontal momentum into a new direction

• The plant foot makes strong contact with the ground, generating
  • vertical GRF (up to 2–3 × body weight) +
  • lateral / horizontal GRF.
• Messi’s advantage is his ability to finely tune the direction and magnitude of this GRF to
  • reduce momentum in the original direction, and
  • smoothly rotate it into momentum in the new direction.

Change-of-direction (COD) studies show that in sharp 90–180° cuts, players must produce large lateral GRF.
The better the alignment of ankle–knee–hip, the more:

• Efficiently they can use GRF
• And the more they can reduce knee valgus/varus stress (injury risk).

Messi generally:

• Keeps his hip–knee–ankle line nearly straight,
• With the foot slightly internally/externally rotated,
  • creating rotational torque
  • while minimizing twisting load on the joints.

(2) Torque and rotational inertia

• The pelvis and upper body twist slightly in opposite directions, then
  • rapidly “unwind” toward the true direction, generating rotational torque.
• Because his CoG is low and his height is not great,
  • his moment of inertia is small,
  • so the same torque produces higher angular velocity (faster rotation).

That’s why Messi’s turn doesn’t trace a big arc;
it’s more like a very small-radius curve that “snaps” sharply.

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2-4. Propulsion & exit: SSC explosion + short contact time

(1) Explosive push-off via SSC

At the moment of the turn, knee and ankle flexion stores elastic energy, then:

• Hip extension (glutes + hamstrings)
• Knee extension (quadriceps)
• Ankle plantarflexion (soleus/gastrocnemius)

all fire in sequence, releasing the stored energy in one burst.

Characteristics of this push-off:

• Ground contact time (GCT) is very short.
  • In elite soccer, GCT during 90–180° COD is usually ~0.18–0.22 s.
  • In Messi’s case, some analyses estimate ~0.12–0.15 s.
• To produce large forces in that brief period,
  • high reactive strength
  • and precise control of leg stiffness are crucial.

(2) Step pattern and stride regulation

• The first 2–3 steps are short and quick to fully shift CoG into the new direction.
• Only after that does he increase stride length to ramp speed back up.
• The ball stays within reach on the inside/outside of the foot at all times,
  • not “body goes first, ball comes later,”
  • but body and ball rotating on almost the same trajectory.

From the defender’s point of view:

“The man left in that direction,
I thought the ball would still be here,
but the ball disappeared with him.”

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3. Neuromuscular efficiency

3-1. Muscle activation patterns and coordination (muscle synergy)

Studies of COD in elite footballers show common patterns:

• Glutes (especially gluteus medius):
  • Pelvic stability + keeping knee alignment
  • Supporting the knee so it doesn’t collapse inward when taking lateral GRF
• Hamstrings:
  • Eccentric contraction during deceleration
  • Then concentric contraction just before push-off, completing the SSC
• Calf muscles (gastrocnemius/soleus):
  • Core role in producing large vertical + horizontal forces in a short contact time
• Core muscles (obliques, multifidus, etc.):
  • Ensuring the upper-body feint and the real CoG movement do not fall out of sync
  • Controlling / accelerating trunk rotation

Where Messi is exceptional is that these muscles don’t just all switch on at once but
activate in wave-like patterns with precise timing.

• First, the glutes and core create stability.
• Then hamstrings and calves strongly recruit SSC.
• Peroneal and other ankle stabilizers finely adjust balance.

Because of this muscle synergy, he can execute the same COD with almost no wasted force and extremely smooth changes in direction.

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3-2. Nervous system timing: Short EMD and anticipatory activation

Muscle contraction includes something called electromechanical delay (EMD)—
the time between the neural signal reaching the muscle and the production of actual force.
Trained athletes have shorter and more anticipatory EMD.

From video/analytical estimates in Messi:

1. Pre-activation
   • Before the foot even contacts the ground,
     hamstrings and glutes are already active, prepared to absorb impact smoothly.
   • This allows very fine control of stiffness during COD.
2. Short delay + fast switching
   • The transition of muscle activity from fake direction → real direction
     happens frame-by-frame faster than in typical players.
   • So even while the upper body is still leaning toward the fake direction,
     the lower body is already preparing the push-off in the opposite direction.

As a result, the signal round-trip time between brain–muscle–ground is short, and
he “turns things on in advance” and then uses them explosively at the exact moment—
this is what we call high neuromuscular efficiency.

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4. Perception–action coupling: How much of this is “brain”?

A body feint is also a technique for deceiving the defender’s brain.

4-1. Reading the defender’s CoG and first step

Research suggests that players perform dozens to hundreds of CODs during a match,
and COD is critical for gaining spatiotemporal advantages.

Before and during a body feint, Messi is constantly scanning:

• The defender’s
  • stance width, CoG height, pelvic angle, first reaction step direction,
• And based on that,
  he chooses the direction with the least resistance.

So the body feint is not a pre-programmed motion;
it’s closer to a feedback-based skill that takes the defender’s reaction and balance state as real-time input.

4-2. Integration of ball and body

Add to that various analyses stating:
“Messi spends relatively little time actually looking at the ball;
most of his visual attention goes to his surroundings.”

• The position of the ball relative to his feet is mainly managed via proprioception (muscle/joint sense).
• Vision is used to read:
  • primary and secondary defenders, cover positions,
  • possible passing lanes,
  • and pressure coming from behind.

Therefore even during direction change, the ball doesn’t drift far from his body,
and the curvature of his dribble trajectory and that of his CoG are almost identical.

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5. Why does it look like “teleportation”? – Time / space structure

Finally, when we frame all this in time and space,
we can see why Messi’s body feint looks the way it does.

1. Visual deception
   • The upper-body feint → the defender’s brain needs about 0.2–0.25 s to process “he’s going that way.”
2. Messi’s actual direction change
   • Within about 0.12–0.15 s of ground contact,
     he rotates his CoG into the new direction and completes the push-off.
3. Time gap ≈ 0.1–0.15 s + distance gap ≈ 1–2 m
   • While the defender is still in the “uh…?” state,
   • Messi and the ball are already accelerating along a different path.

This gap is exactly what makes fans feel:

“He was right in front of me,
but one frame later, he’s suddenly beside or behind me.”

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In one sentence:

Messi’s body feint is a complex skill in which, within a single “shake,”

• low CoG + small moment of inertia,
• large GRF within short contact times via SSC,
• hip–knee–ankle alignment and core control,
• anticipatory muscle activation + short neuromuscular delay,
• and the cognitive ability to read the defender’s CoG and first step in real time

all operate simultaneously.

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19.5 miles (31.4 km/h), 0.12 seconds, 800 N.
Messi’s “teleporting” body feint is not just something to admire—it’s a skill that can be described with numbers.

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1. 0 → 31.4 km/h in 2.7 seconds

“Messi is a sprinter with the ball”

In the 2015 Copa del Rey final, when Messi picked up the ball near the halfway line,
drove down the right flank, and scored,
several sports science channels analyzed the run frame by frame.

According to those analyses:

• Over about 2.7 seconds,
• he accelerated from 0 → 19.5 mph (≈31.4 km/h, 8.7 m/s).

If we calculate average acceleration:

a ≈ 8.7 m/s ÷ 2.7 s ≈ 3.2 m/s²

Considering that sprinters in the first 10 m of a 100 m sprint
show average accelerations of roughly 3–4 m/s²,
Messi is producing near-sprinter-level acceleration even while carrying the ball.

Multiplying by his body mass (≈67 kg),
the horizontal driving force needed just for this acceleration is

F = m·a ≈ 67 kg × 3.2 m/s² ≈ 216 N

In real match conditions—where he must also support body weight (gravity + vertical GRF),
change direction, and brace for collisions—the net GRF that his feet must absorb and produce is much higher.

Another analysis puts his peak sprinting speed during his prime at about 20 mph (≈32 km/h),
which is among the upper tier of world-class attackers.

So rather than calling Messi’s body feint a skill of a “slow genius,”
it’s more accurate to say:

It’s a deception of speed created by a dribbler who has sprinter-level acceleration.

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2. Preparation phase: Time and speed on a single support foot

As you summarized earlier, Messi’s preparation phase centers on:

• Lowering CoG
• Plant foot dorsiflexion + knee flexion
• Shoulder dip (upper-body fake)

If we overlay time and speed onto this, things become clearer.

2-1. Ground contact time: 0.12–0.15 seconds

One analysis estimates Messi’s ground contact time during dribbling at about 0.12–0.15 s.
By comparison, typical pros in COD situations show about 0.18–0.20 s contact.

So Messi ends each step about 0.05 s faster than the average player.

In football that 0.05 s is huge:

• Defender’s reaction time: about 0.2–0.25 s
• Messi’s single-step contact time: 0.12–0.15 s

In other words, while Messi finishes a step, the defender is often still in the “seeing and deciding” stage.
This is the temporal advantage that is already created in the preparation phase.

2-2. CoG height: around 0.9 m

Based on his height (170 cm) and dribbling posture,
his in-play CoG is estimated to be about 0.9 m.

• For taller players (≈185 cm), CoG often sits above 1.0–1.05 m.
• So Messi’s CoG is 10–15 cm lower.

That 10 cm difference is not just “a bit lower.”
It reduces the moment of inertia, so the same force can rotate the trunk and pelvis faster,
which visually shows up as “short and razor-sharp body feints.”

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3. Direction change phase: Applying 800 N of brake force in 0.25 seconds

Now to the main body feint, the actual change of direction.

3-1. 7 → 4 m/s deceleration: Horizontal deceleration ≈ –12 m/s²

From video and literature, we can model a representative scenario:

• Speed just before the body feint: about 7 m/s (25 km/h)
• Speed after the feint: about 4 m/s (14.4 km/h)
• Assuming this change happens in 0.25 s, then

$$\Delta v = 7 \to 4 \,\text{m/s}, \quad \Delta t = 0.25 \,\text{s}$$Δv=7→4m/s,Δt=0.25s $$a = \frac{\Delta v}{\Delta t} \approx -12 \,\text{m/s}^2$$a=ΔtΔv​≈−12m/s2

Even just horizontally, this deceleration exceeds gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s²).
For a 67 kg body mass:$$F \approx 67 \times 12 \approx 800 \,\text{N}$$F≈67×12≈800N

So Messi’s plant foot applies about 800 N of horizontal braking force in 0.25 seconds,
and he doesn’t just use that to “stop”—he reallocates this force into rotation toward the new direction.

Key factors in this phase:

• Knee flexion: about 60–75°
• Hip range of motion: ≈35° of controlled adduction/abduction
• Hip–knee–ankle nearly in one line

If this alignment breaks down, the same 800 N turns into dangerous valgus/varus stress at the knee and a massive injury risk.
Messi uses that force with almost mathematical precision in a well-aligned posture.

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4. Propulsion phase: Gaining 1.5 m+ in under one second – the “teleport” effect

This is where the new-direction re-acceleration happens
that many fans perceive as teleportation.

Using the previous deceleration scenario:

• Right after the feint, Messi’s speed: about 4 m/s
• Suppose over the next 1 second he produces an average acceleration of 3.2 m/s² again, then his distance is:

$$s_m = v_0 t + \tfrac{1}{2} a t^2 = 4 \times 1 + 0.5 \times 3.2 \times 1^2 \approx 5.6 \,\text{m}$$sm​=v0​t+21​at2=4×1+0.5×3.2×12≈5.6m

Meanwhile, a defender who just keeps running at 4 m/s (no extra acceleration) covers:$$s_d = 4 \,\text{m}$$sd​=4m

So in just 1 second, the gap is about 1.6 m.
In real matches, the defender often takes a wrong step in the fake direction and must realign,
so the real gap can easily exceed 2 m.

Now add the visual deception:

• Messi’s real direction change begins about 0.1 s after the feint motion.
• Combined with the defender’s reaction delay (≈0.2–0.25 s),
• you get a time gap of 0.3 s or more,
  which at 7 m/s equals over 2 m of distance.

That’s why on TV it looks like:

“They were neck-and-neck,
then after one feint, Messi and the ball stay in the center and the defender gets flung off-screen.”

That’s the “teleportation” effect.

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5. Messi’s efficiency in neuromuscular numbers

5-1. Short muscle response delay: EMD ≈ 40 ms

One analysis estimates Messi’s electromechanical delay (EMD) at about 40 ms,
roughly 30% shorter than the ≈60 ms typical of elite players.

• From the brain’s command “change direction now!”
• To the moment the muscle actually begins producing force
• The time for Messi is tens of ms shorter than for other players.

This shorter delay allows his body feint to connect:

1. Feint →
2. Brake →
3. Re-acceleration

without visible breaks,
so the whole movement looks like one continuous curve.

5-2. Visuomotor integration: Dribbling without looking at the ball

Another analysis suggests that in attacking situations, Messi looks directly at the ball less than 30% of the time;
the remaining 70% goes to scanning defenders and space.

This is more than just “good vision”:

• The position of the ball relative to his feet is controlled by proprioception (senses in muscles/tendons/joints).
• His eyes are almost fully dedicated to predicting future situations.

In other words, at the level of the nervous system,
the premise is already:

“The ball is part of my body.”

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6. Conclusion: Messi’s body feint becomes clearer through numbers

To sum up, Messi’s “teleportation” body feint is the result of:

• Reaching 31.4 km/h in 2.7 seconds even with the ball, i.e., sprinter-like acceleration
• Short ground contact times per step (0.12–0.15 s) and a low CoG (~0.9 m)
• Applying around 800 N of braking force to go from 7 → 4 m/s in 0.25 s
  and reallocating that force into the new direction with precise joint alignment
• Creating over 1.5 m of separation in 1 second during re-acceleration
• An EMD ~40 ms, about 20 ms shorter than average elite players,
  allowing seamless feint–brake–re-acceleration connections

As you wrote at the beginning:

Messi’s body feint is not an artistic mystery but a skill that can be fully described in terms of:

• low CoG + SSC (stretch–shortening cycle) + friction usage + perception–action speed

It’s no exaggeration to call it a biomechanically optimized technique.

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7. Bonus – How to apply these numbers in training?

From a research/analysis perspective, these become target indicators coaches can give players
(not “Messi-level” targets, but directional goals):

1. Ground contact time
   • Straight sprint: 0.10–0.12 s
   • COD (cuts): target < 0.16 s
     → Shorten via plyometrics + single-leg jump/cut drills
2. Deceleration ability
   • Reducing 5–7 m/s down to 3–4 m/s within 0.3 s
   • Target horizontal deceleration ≥ 8–10 m/s²
3. CoG management and upper-body lean
   • Some studies suggest that in COD,
     a forward lean of about 50–60° and lateral lean of about 10° is efficient.
   • The key is to control feints within that efficient range—
     large enough to deceive, but not excessive.