A systematic review about the performance indicators related to ball possession

Abstract

The purpose of this review was to investigate the influence of the performance indicators related to ball possession on the match outcome and team performance. Following the PRISMA 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines, this systematic review searched for literature on Web of Science, Scopus and Pub Med database, the publication date of the retrieved literature is set from January 2000 to December 2020. The keywords ‘football’ or ‘soccer’ were each paired with the following terms: ‘ball possession’, ‘ball recovery’, ‘ball regain’, ‘transition’, ‘playing style’, ‘possession zone’, ‘duration’ and ‘running performance’. The search returned 2,436 articles. After screening the records against set criteria, 75 analysis were made, and their technical and physical indicators were identified. Through analysing ball-possession related variables, the review concluded that the match outcome is not related to ball possession percentage. The ball possession percentage is not dominant to predict the match success. The status of ball possession percentage can affect the team’s performance in passing, organizational and running distance with the ball possession. There are league differences in ball possession strategies and duration. The frequency and offensive efficiency of direct ball recovery types are higher than indirect types. Ball possessions regained in the defensive third were higher than the final third. However, there remain some limitations such as the difference in the definition of concepts and sample participants, only a few studies consider the influence of situational variables and lack of in-depth analysis on ball possession strategy. Therefore, further study should adopt a more comprehensive approach, establishing a new connection between possession strategy and more technical and tactical indicators.

Caffeine Supplementation does not Increase Performance on Professional Soccer Official Matches

“…The possible explanation for the divergent results of these three previous studies may be related to several factors such as the different forms of supplementation used in these studies, the intake of energy drinks that, in addition to caffeine, contained other substances such as sodium bicarbonate and taurine [7][8][9]. Furthermore, performance in the soccer game can be affected by numerous variables, such as physical fitness [16,17], competitive level [18,19], artificial turf versus natural grass [20,21], heat stress due to environment temperature [22,23], ball possession, and player/team technical standard [24,25]. Soccer is an unforeseeable sport and so many variables are impossible to control, therefore, they may still have influenced the results since the data collection was performed in official matches.…”

Clustering ball possession duration according to players’ role in football small-sided games

“…Based on our results, longer ball possessions seem to be dependent upon the players ability to stay on the ball. In fact, it has been highlighted that players’ technical skills are crucial to increase ball possession [ 1 ], and so, it is not surprising that higher ball possessions durations entails a higher number of touches on the ball.…”

“…Ball possession has been received considerable attention under the last years [ 1 ]. From a practical point-of-view, the ball possession consists in all on and off-ball movements and actions developed in an attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities [ 2 ].…”

Ball possessions and game rhythm in basketball games involving players with and without intellectual impairments

“…Previous research has suggested that ball possessions may not directly predict match success in team sports (Wang et al . 2022). Moreover, the concept of ball possessions in basketball refers to the time a team holds the ball until they score, commits a violation or loses possession (Oliver 2004).…”

“…Thus, with a purpose to expand upon the basketball team performance differences between II and non-II games, the current study aims to explore the influence of ball possessions on games' outcome (II and non-II games) and to better understand how ball possessions and game rhythm develop over the course of a basketball game in both populations. Previous research has suggested that ball possessions may not directly predict match success in team sports (Wang et al 2022). Moreover, the concept of ball possessions in basketball refers to the time a team holds the ball until they score, commits a violation or loses possession (Oliver 2004).…”