Effects of different half‐time strategies on second half soccer‐specific speed, power and dynamic strength

Abstract

This study compared the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) and a field-based re-warm-up during half-time (HT) on subsequent physical performance measures during a simulated soccer game. Ten semi-professional male soccer players performed 90-min fixed-intensity soccer simulations (SAFT(90)), using a multi-directional course. During the HT period players either remained seated (CON), or performed intermittent agility exercise (IAE), or WBV. At regular intervals during SAFT(90), vastus lateralis temperature (T(m)) was recorded, and players also performed maximal counter-movement jumps (CMJ), 10-m sprints, and knee flexion and extension contractions. At the start of the second half, sprint and CMJ performance and eccentric hamstring peak torque were significantly reduced compared with the end of the first half in CON (P≤0.05). There was no significant change in these parameters over the HT period in the WBV and IAE interventions (P>0.05). The decrease in T(m) over the HT period was significantly greater for CON and WBV compared with IAE (P≤0.01). A passive HT interval reduced sprint, jump and dynamic strength performance. Alternatively, IAE and WBV at HT attenuated these performance decrements, with limited performance differences between interventions.

Positional Match Running Performance in Elite Gaelic Football

“…Results indicate that both high speed distance and sprint distance are reduced in the second half of match play. Trends similar to this are also evident in soccer (10,33,44) with a drop in sprinting, and high-intensity running reported in the period after half-time. A reduction in work-rate in the second half have been found during elite level…”

“…An active re-warm-up strategy during half-time has shown to be effective in improving performance in sports of similar nature (32,33) , and therefore should be considered in the case of Gaelic football.…”

Half-Time and High-Speed Running in the Second Half of Soccer

“…We are happy to have our attention drawn to 2 papers by the correspondents [3,7], but clearly their findings could not have been considered in the paper we published as they were not in the public domain at the time of its submission. Given the ever increasing volume of research and the guidelines set by journals it is inevitable that there will be some debate among authors, reviewers and indeed readers, regarding which academic papers should be referenced and which should not.…”

University-level Soccer Players Adopt a Unique ‘Pacing Strategy'

“…On a practical level, the absence of reduced physical performances at the start of the second half led to the authors questioning the value of half-time re-warm-up strategies that have been recommended [4,5,8,13] and translated into practice [10]. We feel that such a strong assertion made from this data set is unwarranted.…”

“…The objective of a half-time re-warm-up is not simply to enhance the work-rate of a player, rather to optimise their capacity to undertake high-intensity actions, and to be more resistant to injury during the early stages of the second half. With this in mind we would like to take this opportunity to direct the authors to recent evidence in controlled laboratory settings, demonstrating performance improvements and reduced injury risk with re-warming strategies suitable for applied settings [4,13]. Although players and their coaches often lack motivation to perform a re-warm-up at half-time, practitioners have identified a 3-minute window of opportunity [10], and preliminary data suggests that such activities are not detrimental to physical performances at the end of the match [4].…”