Age-Related Differences in Fitness Performance and Technical Skills of Young Soccer Players

Abstract

Introduction. The aim of the study was to identify differences in the level of fitness and technical skills of young soccer players depending on age. Material and methods. The study examined 140 male elite soccer players from the Polish Sport Academy aged 12 to 18 years. Body mass, body height, fitness abilities (5-m, 10-m, and 30-m sprint; envelope run; standing long jump; pull-ups; and beep test) and technical skills (ball handling, juggling alternately with the leg and the head, short passes, and long passes) were measured. Results. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences indicating improvement with age were found in older players in speed (15.5%-18.8%), agility (5.7%), lower limb explosive power (39.4%), upper limb strength (254.3%), and cardiorespiratory endurance (31.9%). With regards to technical skills, the greatest progress was documented for long shots (passes) with the internal instep from the ground (140.6% for the dominant leg, DL, and 730.3% for the non-dominant leg, NDL). Slightly lower results were obtained for short shots (passes) with the central instep from the air (128% for DL and 103.6% for NDL) and short shots (passes) with the medial part of the foot (52.1% for DL and 82.8% for NDL), and the lowest were recorded for ball handling with direction change (32.3% for DL and 29.9% for NDL). Conclusions. In the process of talent identification and monitoring of training effects, coaches should take into account the differences in the rate of the development of fitness and technical skills of young athletes.

Validation of a New Soccer Shooting Test Based on Speed Radar Measurement and Shooting Accuracy

“…For the same reasons, it is possible that this study was unable to show age and developmental differences in terms of shooting accuracy. This also contradicts findings of other studies [13,29,30]. Given that there are no detectable effects, no conclusions can be drawn about the differences between the age and development effects that Towlson et al [29] confirm.…”

Relationship Between Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test-Level 1 and Match Running Performance in Soccer: Still on the Right Path?

“…As an alternative to laboratory tests, field tests are widely accepted for the evaluation of aerobic fitness [11,12,13]. One of the most popular field tests focusing on the capacity to carry out intermittent exercise leading to maximal activation of the aerobic system is the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test-level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) [1].…”