The primary muscles in your lower leg used in kicking a football are on opposite sides of your tibia, or shin bone. Your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, collectively called your calf, contract to extend your ankle in a movement called plantar flexion, while the muscles on the front of your tibia -- tibialis anterior -- contracts to hold your ankle rigid. This type of muscle action is called an isometric contraction, which means that while these muscles are generating tension, they are not causing any actual joint movement but merely hold your ankle in place.
Much of the power for kicking a football comes from the action of straightening your knee. This action, called knee extension, is the result of the contraction of the muscles on the front