Akenhead, R, Harley, J, and Tweddle, S. Examining the external training load of an English Premier League football team with special reference to acceleration. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2424-2432, 2016-Practitioners and coaches often use external training load variables such as distance run and the number of high-speed running (HSR) activities to quantify football training. However, an important component of the external load may be overlooked when acceleration activities are not considered. The aim of this study was to describe the within-microcycle distribution of external load, including acceleration, during in-season 1-game weeks in an elite football team. Global Positioning System technology was used to collect time-motion data from 12 representative 7-day microcycles across a competitive season (48 training days, 295 data sets). Training time, total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSR) distance (>5.8 m·s), sprint running distance (>6.7 m·s) and acceleration variables were recorded during each training session. Data were analysed for interday and interposition differences using mixed linear modeling. The distribution of external load was characterized by the second training day of the microcycle (5 days prematch) exhibiting the highest values for all variables of training load, with the fourth day (1 day prematch) exhibiting the lowest values. Central midfield players covered ∼8-16% greater TD than other positions excluding wide midfielders (p ≤ 0.03, d = 0.2-0.4) and covered ∼17% greater distance accelerating 1-2 m·s than central defenders (p = 0.03, d = 0.7). When expressed relative to training duration and TD, the magnitude of interday and interposition differences were markedly reduced (p = 0.03, d = 0.2-0.3). When managing the distribution of training load, practitioners should be aware of the intensity of training sessions and consider the density of external load within sessions.

). The present pilot study is novel in SVT research in its inclusion of qualitative data collection methods and its use of participants. Three elite, youth football goalkeepers (EG) took part in a 7-week SVT programme, and their performance on 10 measures of visual and perceptual skills was compared with three matched control participants (CG). Individual, semistructured interviews were also conducted with the EG participants prior to the post-test. In general, there were no differences in the changes from pre-test to post-test and retention test between EG and CG participants in 9 of the 10 measures. EG participants did, however, show consistent improvements in visual response time at post-test and retention test, whilst the CG participants did not. Thematic analysis of the interview data identified three themes: (1) the belief that SVT improved visual and perceptual skills, notably Breactions^, Bjudgement^, and Bfocus^, (2) the belief that SVT improved on-field goalkeeping performance, and (3) that SVT was both effortful and enjoyable. The present study provides preliminary work with implications for coaching in football goalkeeping and should be expanded with future studies that utilise larger samples and measures of motor/sporting performance.

The purpose of the present study was to address perceptions towards Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in soccer. Twenty-four male, elite academy soccer players (M age = 20.04) completed a custom-made questionnaire which included education on CBT. The results found that: i) initially, only 8% of players had heard of CBT whilst only 4% of players knew what CBT was, ii) players strongly agreed that CBT should be offered to all players, iii) not knowing how/where to seek help was identified as the main barrier to CBT, iv) players indicated a preference for one-to-one and face-to-face CBT, as opposed to small-group or online-CBT, and v) players perceived they would receive most support from family/friends, and least support from teammates, if they were to undertake CBT. These findings demonstrate that whilst initial awareness and knowledge of CBT is low, general perceptions towards CBT are positive once athletes are educated on the area.