Importance of Speed and Power in Elite Youth Soccer Depends on Maturation Status

Abstract

Murtagh, CF, Brownlee, TE, O'Boyle, A, Morgans, R, Drust, B, and Erskine, RM. Importance of speed and power in elite youth soccer depends on maturation status. J Strength Cond Res 32(2): 297-303, 2018-Maturation status is a confounding factor when identifying talent in elite youth soccer players (ESP). By comparing performance of ESP and control participants (CON) matched for maturation status, the aims of our study were to establish the importance of acceleration, sprint, horizontal-forward jump, and vertical jump capabilities for determining elite soccer playing status at different stages of maturation. Elite youth soccer players (n = 213; age, 14.0 ± 3.5 years) and CON (n = 113; age, 15.0 ± 4.4 years) were grouped using years from/to predicted peak height velocity (PHV) to determine maturation status (ESP: pre-PHV, n = 100; mid-PHV, n = 25; post-PHV, n = 88; CON: pre-PHV, n = 44; mid-PHV, n = 15; post-PHV, n = 54). Participants performed 3 reps of 10- and 20-m sprint, bilateral vertical countermovement jump (BV CMJ), and bilateral horizontal-forward CMJ (BH CMJ). Elite youth soccer players demonstrated faster 10-m (p < 0.001) and 20-m sprint (p < 0.001) performance than CON at all stages of maturation. Mid-PHV and post-PHV ESP achieved greater BV CMJ height (p < 0.001) and BH CMJ distance (ESP vs. CON; mid-PHV: 164.32 ± 12.75 vs. 136.53 ± 21.96 cm; post-PHV: 197.57 ± 17.05 vs. 168.06 ± 18.50 cm; p < 0.001) compared with CON, but there was no difference in BV or BH CMJ between pre-PHV ESP and CON. Although 10 and 20 m and sprint performance may be determinants of elite soccer playing status at all stages of maturation, horizontal-forward and vertical jumping capabilities only discriminate ESP from CON participants at mid- and post-PHV. Our data therefore suggest that soccer talent identification protocols should include sprint, but not jump assessments in pre-PHV players.

Reliability and validity of field‐based fitness tests in youth soccer players

“…The intermittent nature of youth soccer match-play requires many changes in running speed and modality. Whilst these changes are suggested to be less prevalent and less influential in youth soccer than within senior competition, prevalence of accelerations and decelerations exist within youth soccer match-play (Iacono et al, 2017;Vigh-Larsen et al, 2018 Moreover, Murtagh et al (2018) suggest that short sprint distances (10/20m) can discriminate between elite vs. control youth soccer players, when adjusting for maturity status. In contrast, Carling et al (2009) report few differences between relatively older and younger U14 players.…”

Relationship between power condition, agility, and speed performance among young roller hockey elite players

“…The multidimensionality of sports performance and the variability of the skills needed to be an elite athlete purport that the number of variables able to fit an explanatory model of future performance is large [1]. Thus, the identification of predictors of success is an essential process for the selection and recruitment of promising young athletes to compete at the highest level [2]. A multidisciplinary approach is recommended for the identification of young talents, including physiological, psychological, sociological, anthropometric, physical fitness and technical factors [3].…”

“…20, No 1, 2019 humanmovement.pl nating the effort intensities between the aerobic and anaerobic regimes [5] with a predominance of short actions of maximum intensity makes it clear that power and speed are physical qualities of extreme relevance for the physical performance of the players, similarly to ice hockey [6]. It is important to mention that when we speak of young athletes, we refer to growing individuals at different stages of physiological development, which are closely associated with faster or slower improvements in the above described abilities [2]. Speed can be defined by the ability to move the body in the desired direction as quickly as possible [7].…”

The Effectiveness of Progressive and Traditional Coaching Strategies to Improve Sprint and Jump Performance across Varying Levels of Maturation within a General Youth Population

“…These physiological and neural adaptations can be gained through muscular overload and high velocity muscular activation [52,53], with the latter a specific element included in the training programmes utilised within this study. Supporting this hypothesis, the HJD and HJND displayed significant increases in jump distance, which illustrates a likely increase in lower limb power [54][55][56], which has been shown to be an important factor in improving sprint performance [57,58]. It is unwise to state that improved lower limb power via neural activation, or neuromuscular adaptation, is a leading cause of performance and kinematic improvements in the current study due to the lack of specific measurements of these variables; however, due to the short duration and power-based tests performed, it is a conclusion worth considering.…”