JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE & MEDICINE |
Research article |
LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF REPEATED SPRINT PERFORMANCE IN YOUTH SOCCER PLAYERS OF CONTRASTING SKELETAL MATURITY STATUS | |||||||||
João Valente-dos-Santos1, Manuel J. Coelho-e-Silva1, Vítor Severino1, João Duarte1, Raúl S. Martins1, António J. Figueiredo1, André T. Seabra2, Renaat M. Philippaerts3, Sean P Cumming4, Marije Elferink-Gemser5 and Robert M. Malina6 | |||||||||
1Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; 2Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Portugal; 3Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 4School of Health, University of Bath, England; 5Center of Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; 6Department of Kinesiology and Health Education - University of Texas at Austin and Research Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas, USA | |||||||||
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2012) 11, 371 - 379 | |||||||||
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ABSTRACT | |||||||||||||
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the developmental changes in performance in a repeated-sprint ability (RSA) test in young soccer players of contrasting maturity status. A total of 83 regional level Portuguese youth soccer players, aged 11- 13 years at baseline was assessed annually. Stature, body mass, 7x34.2-m sprint protocol (25-s active recovery), 20-m multi-stage continuous shuttle endurance run and counter-movement jump (CMJ) without the use of the arms were measured. Fat-free mass (FFM) was determined by age and gender- specific formulas. Developmental changes in total sprint time across ages were predicted using multilevel modeling. Corresponding measurements were performed on an independent cross-sectional subsample of 52 youth soccer players 11-17 years to evaluate the predictive model. CA, CA2, maturational status (SA-CA), body size (mass and stature), FFM, aerobic endurance, lower limb explosive strength and annual volume training significantly improved the statistical fit of the RSA multilevel model. In 'late' maturing athletes, the best model for predicting change in RSA was expressed by the following equation: 86.54 - 2.87 x CA + 0.05 x CA2 - 0.25 x FFM + 0.15 x body mass + 0.05 x stature - 0.05 x aerobic endurance - 0.09 x lower limb explosive strength - 0.01 x annual volume training. The best fitting models for players who were 'on time' and 'early' maturing were identical to the best model for late maturing players, less 0.64 seconds and 1.74 seconds, respectively. Multilevel modeling provided performance curves that permitted the prediction of individual RSA performance across adolescent years in regional level soccer players. Key words: young athletes, multilevel modeling, growth, maturation, short-term effort. |
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INTRODUCTION | |||||||||||||
Athletes competing in team sports are frequently required to perform short-duration sprint-type actions (< 10 seconds) interspersed with brief recoveries (usually < 60 seconds). The capacity to perform this exercise is labeled repeated-sprint ability or RSA (Bishop et al., 2011; Buchheit et al., 2010a, 2010b; Girard et al., 2011). RSA is a functional attribute that is dependent upon metabolic (oxidative capacity, phosphocreatine recovery, H+ buffering) and neuromuscular (muscle activation, recruitment) factors (Bishop et al., 2011; Glaister, 2005; Spencer et al., 2005). Traditionally, soccer has been viewed as a sport that demands a high level of aerobic capacity (Meckel et al., 2009) but the ability to perform short bursts of intensive activity (sprints) interspersed with less intense episodes is important (Rampinini et al., 2007). More recently, however, a number of studies using time-motion analyses have questioned the relative importance of high-intensity activities to team performance in professional (Carling et al., 2012) and international youth soccer (Buchheit et al., 2010b) players. The extent to which findings in these studies can be generalized to other athletic groups or if they only represent play in certain teams and/or Leagues requires investigation. A related issue is how inter-individual differences in growth and maturation, especially apparent in early- and mid-adolescence, potentially affect RSA performance in youth soccer players. |
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METHODS | |||||||||||||
Participants and procedures Biological maturation
Anthropometry Functional capacities Statistical analysis |
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RESULTS | |||||||||||||
The distribution of players in the mixed-longitudinal and cross-sectional samples by age and skeletal maturity status is summarized in Table 1. The majority of players in all age groups were classified as "on time" or average in skeletal maturation, but the proportion of players advanced in maturation (early) increased while the proportion of players delayed in maturation (late) decreased with age. Descriptive statistics for years and volume of training, body size, estimated FFM, total sprint time, aerobic endurance and lower limb explosive strength by chronological age group in the mixed-longitudinal sample are summarized in Table 2. As expected, mean values generally improved with age (lower scores for total sprint time indicates better performance). |
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DISCUSSION | |||||||||||||
Developmental changes in performance in a RSA test across adolescence were evaluated in youth soccer players, taking into account chronological age, skeletal maturity status, measurements of body size, lower limb explosive strength and training experience. Total sprint time improved progressively with age. Performance also varied with skeletal maturity status at baseline and followed a gradient of early > on time > late. This observation is consistent with maturity-associated changes in the stature, body mass, static and functional strength, power and running speed of youth soccer players (Figueiredo et al., 2009b; Malina et al., 2000; 2004a). The apparent independent effect of chronological age and skeletal maturity status contrasted observations from cross-sectional studies that emphasized height and body mass as predictors of inter-individual variability in RSA (Mujika et al., 2009). |
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
This study was supported in part by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [SFRH/BD/64648/2009, PTDC/DTP-DES/1178/2012]. |
AUTHORS BIOGRAPHY | |
João VALENTE-DOS-SANTOS Employment: PhD-candidate, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Research interest: Longitudinal performance analysis. E-mail: jvsantos@fcdef.uc.pt | |
Manuel J. COELHO-E-SILVA Employment: Associate professor, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Degree: PhD Research interest Auxology and Pedia E-mail: mjcesilva@fcdef.uc.pt | |
Vítor SEVERINO Employment: PhD-candidate, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Research interest: Soccer. Field and laboratory assessments E-mail: vitorjss@gmail.com | |
João Employment: Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Degree: MSc - candidate E-mail: 123jp4@gmail.com | |
Raúl S. MARTINS Employment: Assistant professor, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Degree: PhD Research interest: Research design E-mail: raulmartins@fcdef.uc.pt | |
António J. FIGUEIREDO Employment: Dean, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Degree: PhD Research interest: Soccer, young athletes. E-mail: afigueiredo@fcdef.uc.pt | |
André T. SEABRA Employment: Assistant professor, Faculty of Sports, Research interest: Anthropome E-mail: aseabra@fade.up.pt | |
Renaat M. PHILIPPAERTS Employment: Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University Degree: PhD Research interest: Talent identification and development. E-mail: renaat.philippaerts@UGent.be | |
Sean P. CUMMING Employment: Professor, University of Bath Degree: PhD Research interest: Psychology, growth and maturation. E-mail: sc325@bath.ac.uk | |
Marije ELFERINK-GEMSER Employment: Assistant professor, Center for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen Degree: PhD Research interest: Talent identification and development. E-mail: M.T.Elferink-Gemser@med.umcg.nl | |
Robert M. MALINA Employment: Professor Emeritus, University of Texas; Research Professor, Tarleton State University Degree: PhD (PE and Anthropology) Research interest: Growth, maturation and physical activity. E-mail: rmalina@1skyconnect.net | |