Age- and size-corrected kicking speed and accuracy in elite junior soccer players

Hunter, Andrew H.; Smith, Norman C.; Camata, Thiago Viana; Crowther, Mathew S.; Mather, Andrew; Souza, Nicolau Melo de; Ramos-Silva, Luiz Fernando; Pazetto, Nerylson Ferraz; Moura, Felipe Arruda; Wilson, Robbie S.

doi:10.1080/24733938.2021.1899274

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For the continuous measure of age, each player's date of birth (day and month) was converted to a decimal proportion of the calendar year, with 0 denoting the first day of January through to 1 denoting the 31st day of December of the same year. We also used two different methods of quantifying each measured trait, one using standardised raw scores, and the other using raw scores corrected for age and size 40 (see below) . Thus, these data were analysed four different ways: traits (standardised) ∼ age (categorical) (ANOVAs); traits (standardised) ∼ age (continuous) (linear regression models); traits (corrected) ∼ age (categorical) (ANOVAs); and traits (corrected) ∼ age (continuous) (linear regression models).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sprinting and dribbling performance of each player was measured using four 30 m long paths that differed in curvature, as in Refs. [38][39][40] (Supplementary Figure 1). On the ground, two lengths of 6 mm plastic chain (Kateli, Brazil) defined the outer boundaries of each path, creating a 1-m wide channel between them.…”

Section: Sprinting and Dribbling Along With Curved Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To characterise patterns of variance among the correlated measures of age, height, and mass, we used principal component analysis (PCA) to create an age and size index (ASI), as developed by Hunter and colleagues. 40 Decimal age was calculated as at the first day of testing, and these right skewed data were corrected with a log transformation prior to PCA. The first component (PC ASI1 ) accounted for 90.1% of the variation (Supplementary Table 8).…”

Section: Age and Size Index (Asi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are soccer players born later in the year more technically skilled than those born earlier in the year

Hunter

Smith

Camata

et al. 2022

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching

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In many youth sports, selection into elite training academies is dominated by athletes born earlier in the year. Previous research suggests this is partly due to these athletes being more physically developed than their younger peers. How athletes born later in the year survive in elite academies is less understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that players born later in the year are more technically skilled than their peers born earlier in the same year. Using 150 youth players (10–19 years of age) from an elite Brazilian soccer academy, we measured each player's date of birth, height, and mass; sprinting ability; dribbling ability; and kicking accuracy and speed. We found most players in this academy were born in the first half of the year, and those born earlier in the year (relatively older) tended to be taller and heavier than those born later in the same year (relatively younger). In addition, relatively older players were faster when sprinting and dribbling the ball in a straight line. Conversely, relatively younger players were more accurate when passing the ball with their nondominant foot, providing some evidence these players were more technically skilled than their older peers of the same age. We suggest skill tests with youth players need to consider relative age and physical size in order to best assess a player's potential.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sprinting and Dribbling Along With Curved Pathsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Age and Size Index (Asi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are soccer players born later in the year more technically skilled than those born earlier in the year

Hunter

Smith

Camata

et al. 2022

International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching

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“…An outstanding player may have a high relative performance score when competing against average players but lower when competing against other high‐level players. By discovering which isolated athletic, technical, or psychological traits underlie high performance in small‐sided competitions, one can thus provide metrics of performance that are independent of other players, and comparable to groups for other teams, competitions, or countries 40,41 . Because our design of small‐sided games provides a single metric of overall performance, it is possible to design experiments that identify the traits most predictive of overall performance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple and reliable protocol for identifying talented junior players in team sports using small‐sided games

Wilson

Hunter

Camata

et al. 2021

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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We designed and tested a protocol for measuring the performance of individuals in small‐sided soccer games. We tested our protocol on three different groups of youth players from elite Brazilian football academies. Players in each group played a series of 3v3 games, in which individuals were randomly assigned into new teams and against new opponents for each game. We calculated each individual's average individual goals scored, goals scored by teammates, goals conceded, and net team goals per game. Our protocol was consistent across days and repeatable across groups, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.57–0.69 for average net goals per game across testing days. Players could achieve high success by scoring goals or ensuring their team concede few goals. We also calculated the first and second dimension of a principal component analysis based on each player's number of goals scored, goals scored by teammates, and number of goals conceded per game. Players that were overall high performers had higher PC1 scores, while PC2 scores represented the type of contribution made by a player to overall performance. Positive PC2 values were indicative of high number of individual goals while negative values were associated with more goals from teammates and fewer conceded goals. Our design allows coaches and scouts to easily collect a robust metric of individual performance using randomly designed, small‐sided games. We also provide simulations that allow one to apply our methodology for individual talent identification to other small‐sided games in any team sport.

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“…Soccer techniques can be divided into techniques with and without the ball (Anam et al, 2019). Techniques with the ball include: 1) kicking techniques (Rabello et al, 2021;Hunter et al, 2021), 2) holding and controlling the ball, 3) dribbling techniques, 4) heading the ball, 5) throwing the ball, and 6) goalkeeping techniques (Anam et al, 2021). While the techniques without the ball include: 1) stealing the ball, 2) body cart technique, 3) deception without the ball, 4) running technique, 5) jumping technique, and 6) goalkeeping technique (Anam et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of FIFA 11+ Kids: Method to minimize sports injuries in youth football

Anam

Nurrachmad²,

Setiowati³

et al. 2022

j. Sport Area

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Football is one of the sports with the highest risk of injury, with injuries to children around 3% per year with serious injuries occurring at only 0.69% per year. The objective of the study is to investigate the application of FIFA 11+ Kids in minimizing sports injuries in youth football through enhancement components of physical condition, namely, leg muscle power and muscle flexibility. This study is an quasi-experimental research by using a pre-test - post-test control group design. The sample in this study are 20 people, divided into control and treatment groups. In this study, the sample is determined using a purposive sampling technique, with the following inclusion criteria: 1) male, 2) 11-12 years old, 3) practicing football regularly, 3) willing to be a research sample. In contrast, the criteria exclusion is experienced injured and unwilling to be a research sample. The distribution of control and treatment groups using matching subject ABBA technique. Instruments used in this research are the standing broad jump test to measure leg muscle power and sit and reach test to measure muscle flexibility. The data analysis is a t-test regression analysis with a level of 5% significance. This study found that the application of FIFA 11+ Kids can be used as a method to minimize sports injuries in youth football. The limitation of this study is that the sample is limited to only 20 children. This research is important because it contributes to the science of football coaching in terms of preventing injuries to children. Future research is expected to thoroughly examine the components of other physical conditions related to injury prevention, and use a larger sample from various age groups of soccer school students.

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Age- and size-corrected kicking speed and accuracy in elite junior soccer players

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

Are soccer players born later in the year more technically skilled than those born earlier in the year

Are soccer players born later in the year more technically skilled than those born earlier in the year

Simple and reliable protocol for identifying talented junior players in team sports using small‐sided games

Application of FIFA 11+ Kids: Method to minimize sports injuries in youth football

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