Physical Activity Pattern Differences Between Youth Soccer Players in Small Sided Games

Abstract

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and there are a lots of training method introduced to improve players’ performance, and small-side game (SSG) was one of the reliable method as it is highly modifiable and a good method to simulate real match situation. The aim of present study was to investigate the differences of activity pattern between different age groups during small-sided game (SSG) by investigating the change of heart rate (HR), speed and distance covered and see if there was any difference to between ages to provide feedback for the coaches which assist their SSG training plan. In present study, there were no significant difference (p>0.05) between U-12 and U-13, U-12 and U-14, U-13 and U-14 in HR, no significant difference (p>0.05) between U13 and U-14 in distance covered, and no significant difference (p>0.05) between U-12 and U-13, U-12 and U-14, U-13 and U-14 in speed. To conclude the finding of present study, present study discovers that during a seven-a-side SSG match, there were no significant differences between U-12, U-13, and U-14 players in HR, distance covered and speed which suggest that U-12, U-13 and U-14 have similar activity pattern during a seven-a-side SSG.Soccer is one of the most played sports around the world, from the report of FIFA, the 2014 FIFA World Cup have 32 teams, and there are over 265 million soccer players around the world which shows soccer is a very popular team sport in the world. As a team sport, soccer players could develop a complex, open system during the match which constituted of many degrees of freedom that result from the variety of possible interactions among system components (Duarte et al., 2012; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2013). In these systems, they consist lots of high speed, intensive activities. During a match, soccer players must cover distance by walking, jogging, running, and sprinting. The speed intensity is dependent upon a variety of factors, including training level, team playing style and ability to maintain possession, player positions, tactical situations, period of competition, and the intensity can reach to the anaerobic threshold, but 90% of the energy used was produced by the aerobic system (Di Salvo, 2012; Radzimisnski et al., 2013). The overall activity pattern of soccer consists intermittent high-intensity type and, in average, high-speed activity accounts for approximately 8 % of the total distance covered during match-play (Gregson, 2010; Mukherjee & Chia, 2013; Nicholas et al., 1999). To develop an elite soccer team, players must go through the training from a young age and learn all types of soccer motor skills and master them when they are growing up. Since soccer development has gone through a long period of time, modern soccer training evolved towards integrated types of physical training and many types of training method to suit the need of competitive demands and technical skills development. Among these types of training methods, small-sided game (SSG) is one of the most popular training method and proved to be a reliable, effective training.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, and there are a lots of training method introduced to improve players’ performance, and small-side game (SSG) was one of the reliable method as it is highly modifiable and a good method to simulate real match situation. The aim of present study was to investigate the differences of activity pattern between different age groups during small-sided game (SSG) by investigating the change of heart rate (HR), speed and distance covered and see if there was any difference to between ages to provide feedback for the coaches which assist their SSG training plan. In present study, there were no significant difference (p>0.05) between U-12 and U-13, U-12 and U-14, U-13 and U-14 in HR, no significant difference (p>0.05) between U13 and U-14 in distance covered, and no significant difference (p>0.05) between U-12 and U-13, U-12 and U-14, U-13 and U-14 in speed. To conclude the finding of present study, present study discovers that during a seven-a-side SSG match, there were no significant differences between U-12, U-13, and U-14 players in HR, distance covered and speed which suggest that U-12, U-13 and U-14 have similar activity pattern during a seven-a-side SSG.Soccer is one of the most played sports around the world, from the report of FIFA, the 2014 FIFA World Cup have 32 teams, and there are over 265 million soccer players around the world which shows soccer is a very popular team sport in the world. As a team sport, soccer players could develop a complex, open system during the match which constituted of many degrees of freedom that result from the variety of possible interactions among system components (Duarte et al., 2012; Mendez-Villanueva et al., 2013). In these systems, they consist lots of high speed, intensive activities. During a match, soccer players must cover distance by walking, jogging, running, and sprinting. The speed intensity is dependent upon a variety of factors, including training level, team playing style and ability to maintain possession, player positions, tactical situations, period of competition, and the intensity can reach to the anaerobic threshold, but 90% of the energy used was produced by the aerobic system (Di Salvo, 2012; Radzimisnski et al., 2013). The overall activity pattern of soccer consists intermittent high-intensity type and, in average, high-speed activity accounts for approximately 8 % of the total distance covered during match-play (Gregson, 2010; Mukherjee & Chia, 2013; Nicholas et al., 1999). To develop an elite soccer team, players must go through the training from a young age and learn all types of soccer motor skills and master them when they are growing up. Since soccer development has gone through a long period of time, modern soccer training evolved towards integrated types of physical training and many types of training method to suit the need of competitive demands and technical skills development. Among these types of training methods, small-sided game (SSG) is one of the most popular training method and proved to be a reliable, effective training.