There is an evident lack of studies examining the pursuit of excellence in futsal. The aims of this study were to evaluate anthropometric and physiological variables that may contribute to distinguishing among performance levels in professional futsal players and to evaluate correlates of those variables. The participants were 75 male professionals (age = 25.1 ± 5.1 years, body height = 182.3 ± 6.2 cm, body mass = 80.8 ± 10.4 kg), who were divided into performance levels using two criteria: (i) starters (first teams) vs. non-starters (substitutes) and (ii) top-level players (members of the national team and players who participated in top-level team competition in Europe) vs. high-level players (team players competing at the highest national competitive rank). Variables included anthropometrics (body height and mass, BMI, body fat percentage), generic tests of physiological capacities [5- and 10-m sprints, countermovement jump, broad jump, 20-yard test, reactive strength index (RSI)], and futsal-specific fitness tests [kicking speed by dominant and non-dominant leg, futsal-specific tests of change of direction speed, and reactive agility (FSRAG) involving/not involving dribbling the ball]. Top-level players outperformed high-level players in RSI, broad jump, kicking speed, and FSRAG involving dribbling. Starters achieved better results than non-starters in fewer variables, including kicking speed and RSI. Body fat percentage negatively influenced FSRAG involving dribbling, and RSI. FSRAG, RSI, and kicking speed were significantly correlated, indicating the similar physiological background of these capacities. The findings suggest that enhanced reactive strength and the ability to rapidly change direction speed in response to external stimulus while executing futsal-specific motor tasks (e.g., dribbling), along with players’ ability to kick the ball speedily, can be considered essential qualities required for advanced performance in futsal. Consequently, futsal strength and conditioning training should be targeted toward lowering relative body fat, maximizing lower-body reactive strength and including futsal-specific skills (e.g., dribbling, shooting) in reactive agility drills.

The aim of this research was to determine the diff erences among the top football players of the two clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, HSC Zrinjski Mostar and FC Siroki Brijeg in the morphological characteristics and body composition. A sample of 50 subjects was divided into two sub-samples. The fi rst sub-sample of the subjects consisted of 28 players of HSC Zrinjski Mostar of the average age 24.36±4.14, the champions of the Bosnia and Herzegovina in the season 2016/17, while the other sub-sample consisted of 22 players of FC Siroki Brijeg of the average age of 24.00±6.22, the champions of the Cup of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the season 2016/17. Football players were tested immediately after the end of the competition season 2016/17. Morphological characteristics in the body composition were evaluated by a battery of 11 variables: body height, body weight, body mass index, fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, waist size, triceps skinfold, biceps skinfold, back skinfold and abdominal skinfold. The standard central and dispersion parameters of all variables were calculated. The signifi cance of the diff erences between the players of the top two football clubs in the morphological characteristics and variables for assessing body composition was determined by a t-test for independent samples. It was found that the football players of the two mentioned clubs have statistically signifi cant diff erences by the three variables that estimate the bone mass, waist circumference and triceps skinfold, in favor of FC Siroki Brijeg.

The importance of agility in futsal is already recognized, but there is an evident lack of information about applicability of futsal specific tests. The aim of this study was to evaluate reliability, validity and correlates of tests evaluating the futsal specific pre-planned agility (PPA), and non-planned agility (NPA). The sample comprised 40 professional futsal players who were tested on newly developed tests of PPA and NPA, sprint over 10 meters, countermovement jump, body height and mass. The reliability analyses included calculation of intra-session Cronbach Alpha (CA) and Inter-Item-Correlation (IIR), as well as analysis (ANOVA) for repeated measurements. Differences between performance groups (starters [first team] vs. non-starters [substitutes]) were evidenced by t-test for independent samples and calculation of Effect Size differences (ES). Pearson’s product moment correlation was calculated to define associations between variables. The reliability of agility tests was appropriate, with somewhat better reliability of PPA (CA: 0.81 and 0.76, IIR: 0.79 and 0.72, for PPA and NPA, respectively). ANOVA did not reveal any significant differences among testing trials. Starters were had better PPA than non-starters (t-test: 1.98, p < 0.01, moderate ES). The PPA and NPA shared less than 40% of the common variance, which suggests that these capacities are independent. Jumping and sprinting were not significantly correlated to PPA and NPA. Study confirmed appropriate reliability of the newly developed tests, and applicability of the PPA in distinguishing performance-levels. Further studies in females and younger players are warranted.

Purpose: Change of direction speed (CODS) and reactive agility (RAG) are important qual-ities in futsal, but studies rarely examined the predictors of these conditioning capacities in players of advanced level. This study aimed to evaluate predictive validity of certain an-thropometric and conditioning capacities in evaluation of futsal specific CODS and RAG in top-level players. Methods: The sample comprised 54 male players from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of teams competing at the highest national rank, including national champions for the 2017–2018 competitive season in both countries. The variables comprised set of pre-dictors (body mass, body height, triceps skinfold, reactive strength index [RSI], sprint 10 m [S10M], and broad jump [BJ]; and four criteria: futsal specific CODS and RAG, performed with and without dribbling (CODS_D, CODS_WD, RAG_D, RAG_WD). To identify the asso-ciation between variables Pearson’s correlation and multiple regressions were calculated. Results: Observed predictors explained statistically significant (p < 0.05) percentage of vari-ance for all four criteria (Rsq: 0.28, 0.30, 0.23 and 0.25, for CODS_WD, CODS_D, RAG_WD, RAG_D, respectively). Body mass was significant predictor for all criteria (Beta: 0.35–0.51), with poorer performances in heavier players. In both performances which involved dribbling, significant predictors was RSI (Beta: −0.27 and −0.31 for CODS_D and RAG_D, respective-ly), with superior performances in players with better RSI. The S10M and BJ were not identi-fied as being significantly correlated to studied RAG and CODS performances. Conclusion: Study confirmed specific influence of studied predictors of futsal specific CODS and RAG with consistent negative influence of body mass on studied performances. Almost certainly this can be explained by specifics of RAG and CODS execution. Specifically, tests are performed over relatively small distances, with several changes of direction, which clear-ly mimic the futsal specific performances. Although sprint performance is often observed as important determinant of CODS and RAG, herein we did not confirm its predictive validity in explanation of futsal specific CODS and RAG. Future studies should evaluate other poten-tially important predictors of these capacities in futsal.