Longitudinal Physical Development of Future Professional Male Soccer Players: Implications for Talent Identification and Development?

Abstract

The present study examined if elite youth male association football (soccer) players aged 8-19 y (n = 2,875) from the English talent development system, who ultimately achieved professional status differed in stature, body mass, and physical performance (20-m sprint speed, slalom agility speed, vertical counter-movement jump with arm swing jump height, multistage fitness test distance) compared with their non-professional peers. The study also examined the longitudinal pattern of development of stature, body mass, and physical performance, and if this was different between future professionals and non-professionals, while considering the effects of playing position. Multilevel modeling of the 8,898 individual (player-occasion) data points suggested that from age 12.0, the future professionals performed better in a vertical counter-movement jump with arm swing test and slalom agility test than future non-professionals, and improved at a faster rate, so that by age 18.0 the differences in vertical counter-movement jump with arm swing and slalom agility performance were 1.7 cm (p < 0.001, d = 0.3) and 0.14 s (p < 0.001, d = 0.5), respectively. In addition, future professionals were faster (by 0.02-0.04 s on the 20-m sprint, p < 0.001, d = 0.2) and ran further in the multistage fitness test (by 47 m, p = 0.014, d = 0.2) than future non-professionals throughout their development, but there were no differences in stature or body mass during development between the groups. Whereas, multistage fitness test performance improved linearly with age, the development of all other physical characteristics was non-linear. There were inter-individual differences in the development of all characteristics, and there were differences between playing positions in the development of all characteristics. Thus, in summary, future professionals jump higher, are more agile, faster, and more endurance fit than future non-professionals as they age, and the pattern of development is different in professionals and non-professionals for vertical jumping and slalom agility performance.

Motor Performance in Male Youth Soccer Players: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

“…All studies were from the European continent: eight were conducted in Portugal (25.8%) [ 19 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], seven in Belgium (22.6%) [ 17 , 23 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], four in the United Kingdom (12.9%) [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], three in the Netherlands (9.7%) [ 18 , 40 , 41 ], three in Spain (9.7%) [ 24 , 42 , 43 ], two in Italy (6.5%) [ 20 , 44 ]. Single studies were conducted in Austria [ 45 ], Finland [ 46 ], Germany [ 47 ], Switzerland [ 21 ], and Serbia [ 48 ] ( Figure 2 ).…”

“…Time durations (serial data collection) ranged from three [ 41 ] to nine years [ 45 ]. Thirteen studies used a pure longitudinal design lasting from ten weeks [ 30 ] to eleven years of a prognostic period [ 38 ]. Sample sizes varied from 6 [ 37 ] to 2875 subjects [ 38 ], and player age ranged from 7 [ 20 ] to 19 years [ 38 ] ( Figure 3 ).…”

“…Motor performance, soccer-specific motor performance, and soccer-specific skills were distinctively assessed. Twenty-five studies [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ] used tests such as plate tapping, sit and reach, sit-ups, bent arm hang, standing long jump, vertical jump with and without free arm, endurance shuttle run, sprints (10, 15, 20, and 30 m), medicine ball throw 2 kg, multi-stage endurance run, agility (505 test, barrow zigzag run, 8-figure, T-Test hurdles run, slalom course, slalom running with obstacles) and the multistage fitness tests. Seventeen studies [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 48 ] assessed soccer-specific motor performance, namely: 30 m repeated sprint (RSA), agility shuttle run 5 × 10 m (SHR), intermittent endurance (ISRT), the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Tests, slalom sprint and shuttle sprint.…”

“…Seventeen studies [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 48 ] assessed soccer-specific motor performance, namely: 30 m repeated sprint (RSA), agility shuttle run 5 × 10 m (SHR), intermittent endurance (ISRT), the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Tests, slalom sprint and shuttle sprint. Additionally, a dozen [ 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 38 , 41 , 44 , 46 , 47 ] of them also assessed soccer-specific skills including dribbling, dribbling with a pass, shooting, shooting accuracy, ball control, touch of the ball with the body and the head, juggling, passing, and wall pass.…”

“…Overall, the reviewed studies aimed at identifying changes in motor performance in different ways: (i) modelling mean trends as well as their covariates [ 18 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 47 ]; (ii) describing mean changes over time [ 20 , 30 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 39 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 ]; (iii) aligning changes by age-at-peak height velocity [ 37 , 43 ]; (iv) identifying timings of spurts in different motor performance tests [ 17 ]; and (v) describing patterns of change [ 21 ].…”