Resisted Sprint Velocity in Female Soccer Players: Influence of Physical Capacities

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of different sled overloads on maximum sprint velocity achieved by female soccer players with different strength, speed, and power levels. Twenty elite female soccer players from the same club participated. On the same day, athletes performed: linear and resisted-sprint tests with 30 and 60 % of body-mass over 5-, 10-, and 20-m; half-squat maximum bar-power output, and half-squat one-repetition maximum assessment. A median split analysis was used to divide players into two groups according to their velocity, half-squat one-repetition maximum, and half-squat power. Differences in percentage decreases between unresisted- and resisted-sprints comparing higher and lower groups were analyzed using magnitude-based inferences. Overall, the stronger, faster, and more powerful players were less affected by both loads, as demonstrated by their lower decreases in velocity over the different distances. However, half-squat power appeared to be more sensitive for indicating impairments in resisted-sprint performance, due to meaningful differences in percentage decreases observed between higher and lower power groups. Notably, overloads of 30 and 60% of body-mass provoked substantial reductions in resisted-sprint velocity (~22.9% for 30% and ~51.4% for 60% of body-mass, relative to unresisted-sprint velocity). Athletes with superior power levels are less affected by the progressive sled overloading.

Analogical and Diversification of Anthropometric and Motor Performance Characteristics among Female Universities Soccer Players in Ghana

“…Coaches had to resort to tactical discipline to marginally win or draw their matches. Again, the mean weight in this study is less than the value reported [3,20,28].…”

“…Apart from other parameters, this equality in height probably explains why there was only one (1) goal emanating out of an aerial header during the last Ghana university games for female soccer. The finding on the mean height is comparatively lower than their contemporary in the advanced countries as reported in the literature [3,26,27]. The range for body weights perhaps, probably explains why these teams did not have too much advantage over each other in activities such as charging for the ball.…”

“…Study on the challenges of female soccer has mainly centered on explaining the volume, intensity, and activity patterns of players [2]. The active involvement of females in soccer as a contact game with high intensity and intermittent sprint has attracted studies in the developed countries [3][4][5]. The outcomes of scientific studies in developed countries have also been translated into the enrolment of female into various soccer academies for grooming [6,7].…”

Relationship between neuromuscular profile and total volume of resisted sprint training in male professional soccer players

“…Of note, the magnitude of these associations increased with increasing sled loads, indicating that faster, stronger, and more powerful athletes required heavier sled loads to experience similar exercise intensities. Similarly, Loturco et al [12] reported that the velocity decreases in female soccer players with higher levels of power output in the half-squat tend to be less affected by progressive sled-loading, especially at shorter distances (≤ 10m). However, it remains to be determined whether these signi cant associations persist throughout a longitudinal intervention and, more importantly, whether the total volume of resisted sprints performed until a given condition (i.e., a similar percentage of velocity loss [VL]) could be in uenced by the athletes' neuromuscular pro le, since these relationships have been analyzed with the loading magnitude (i.e., intensity), but not with training volume.…”

Narrative Review on the Use of Sled Training to Improve Sprint Performance in Team Sport Athletes

“…It is of great relevance for coaches and sport scientists to consider that, in the first place, team sport athletes should not be trained like sprinters (or vice versa) when implementing ST protocols because of the clear and consistent differences between these sports (72,74). Distinct athletes will respond differently to similar loads, which suggests that loads should be tailored based on specific training distances, physical characteristics, and sport demands (68,71). Therefore, when the decision is to use heavy or very heavy sled loads (e.g., > 30% V dec ) as a tertiary method for improving the maximal force production at slow velocities, coaches should prescribe a low volume of short or very short sprints (e.g., 5 to 10 m sprints).…”