Physiology of Small-Sided Games Training in Football

Abstract

Small-sided games (SSGs) are played on reduced pitch areas, often using modified rules and involving a smaller number of players than traditional football. These games are less structured than traditional fitness training methods but are very popular training drills for players of all ages and levels. At present, there is relatively little information regarding how SSGs can best be used to improve physical capacities and technical or tactical skills in footballers. However, many prescriptive variables controlled by the coach can influence the exercise intensity during SSGs. Coaches usually attempt to change the training stimulus in SSGs through altering the pitch area, player number, coach encouragement, training regimen (continuous vs interval training), rules and the use of goalkeepers. In general, it appears that SSG exercise intensity is increased with the concurrent reduction in player number and increase in relative pitch area per player. However, the inverse relationship between the number of players in each SSG and exercise intensity does not apply to the time-motion characteristics. Consistent coach encouragement can also increase training intensity, but most rule changes do not appear to strongly affect exercise intensity. The variation of exercise intensity measures are lower in smaller game formats (e.g. three vs three) and have acceptable reproducibility when the same game is repeated between different training sessions or within the same session. The variation in exercise intensity during SSGs can also be improved with consistent coach encouragement but it is still more variable than traditional generic training methods. Other studies have also shown that SSGs containing fewer players can exceed match intensity and elicit similar intensities to both long- and short-duration high-intensity interval running. It also appears that fitness and football-specific performance can be improved equally with SSG and generic training drills. Future research is required to examine the optimal periodization strategies of SSGs training for the long-term development of physiological capacity, technical skill and tactical proficiency.

Manipulating Task Constraints in Small-Sided Soccer Games: Performance Analysis and Practical Implications

“…In turn, Dellal et al [16] showed that manipulating the number of ball contacts allowed per individual possession influenced, besides other physiological and physical variables, the technical activities of elite soccer players during SSGs. According to Hill-Haas et al [12], it makes all the sense to extend the still scarce scientific background about the effects of common rules modifications on technical and tactical skills of soccer players. In our view, this is especially relevant in the skill development process during young ages, in which coaches have to pay attention to the fact that youth soccer players do not present the same technical and tactical abilities as the adult or elite players [5].…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]) highlight the advantages of using small-sided games (SSGs) to improve physical capacities and technical or tactical skills since the early ages of soccer practice. In this regard, the manipulation of key task constraints, such as pitch dimensions, number of players, rules or conditions, and equipment, is considered a very useful tool for coaches to recreate game situations and contribute to the players' specific skills development [1,5,[10][11][12].…”

Efeito do número de jogadores sobre a demanda física e respostas fisiológicas durante jogos com campo reduzido em jogadores de futebol sub-15

“…Em relação às respostas siológicas, nossos resultados estão de acordo com outros estudos que demonstraram que, em geral, os JCRs com menor número de jogadores demandam respostas sioló-gicas e perceptuais mais elevadas [7][8][9][10][11]22 , que podem ter efeitos na melhora do desempenho dos atletas em médio e longo prazo [4][5][6] .…”

“…No entanto, existe uma maior variabilidade interindividual (coe ciente de variação (CV) = 11,8%) nas respostas FC durante JCRs em comparação às corridas intermitentes de curta duração (CV = 5,9%) 6 , sendo essa variação atribuída a diversos fatores como: imprevisibilidade inerente ao jogo, tamanho do campo, estímulo verbal, área do campo relativa por atleta, número de jogadores, entre outros 7 . Dentre esses fatores, a manipulação do número de jogadores parece ser a principal fonte de variação nas respostas siológicas durante os JCRs [7][8][9][10][11] .…”

A comparison of internal load between friendly matches and a conditioned game in professional football players

“…Las mayores demandas físicas en la actividad a elevada intensidad registrada en los PA, podría poner en duda la especificidad de este tipo de tareas (Casamichana et al, 2012). No obstante, la manipulación de ciertas variables en el diseño de los JR, tales como el número de jugadores participantes, las dimensiones del terreno de juego, la presencia o ausencia de porterías y porteros, o los estímulos verbales proporcionados por el entrenador, podrían condicionar las demandas físicas, técnicas o fisiológicas en este tipo de tareas (Aguiar, Botelho, Lago, Macas, & Sampaio, 2012;Hill-Haas, Dawson, Impellizzeri, & Coutts, 2011).…”