Differences across Playing Levels for Match-Play Physical Demands in Women’s Professional and Collegiate Soccer: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Advancements in sport technology have made quantifying match-play external load (e.g., total distance, sprint distance, number of sprints) a popular option for athletics personnel. These variables of volume and intensity are useful for both objectively monitoring training in field-based sports and for designing training programs. As physical abilities differ across playing levels, match-play demands likely also differ. This narrative review compiles and compares the match-play external load data for women’s soccer at the professional and collegiate levels. Databases were searched through July 2022, yielding 13 primary articles that assessed the match-play demands of women’s soccer (3 professional, 8 Division I, 1 Division II, and 1 Division III). The results indicate that the average total distance covered were similar between the professional, Division I and Division III levels, but the variability was greater among Division III compared to professional and Division I players. Data for Division II are scarce, but the total distance covered appears to be less than for professional, Division I and Division III. There was also large variability for sprint distance and number of sprints across data at all playing levels. Considering the lack of studies of Division II and Division III players, more research is necessary to determine how playing level may affect external load profiles, as isolated studies likely only reflect data from isolated teams.

Return to Performance Protocols and Criteria Specific to Aerobic Capacity for Aerobic Athletes Who Sustain Lower Extremity Injuries: A Narrative Review

“…In addition, to implement evidence-based training practices and optimize training stress to return without detraining, clinicians and coaches must understand the physical demands of the sport itself. Strength and conditioning coaches can use average player profile data, specific to sport and level of play, to allow for informed decisions to be made when increasing volume and intensity over time to optimize the last phase(s) of rehabilitation and then supercompensation once the athlete has fully returned (5,8). The training and competition day demands (e.g., total distance in a specific amount of time and time spent in each heart rate zone) should be considered when designing the periodized program for the transition through the last phases of rehabilitation back to play (5).…”

Rendimiento físico en función del tiro a puerta en el fútbol femenino cubano, primera categoría.

“…Las distancias totales, luego de un procesamiento, demuestran menores valores comparados con los resultados obtenidos sobre las diferencias o no de equipos u17 y u20 de competiciones brasileñas (Kobal et al, 2022), donde se hace una caracterización de equipos profesionales. Igual sucede cuando se contrasta con los datos aportados por Choice et al (2022), sobre jugadores participantes en la liga profesional, primera y tercera división. En el caso de la segunda división, los resultados obtenidos en la investigación son superiores.…”