The Occurrence of Repeated High Acceleration Ability (RHAA) in Elite Youth Football

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of Repeated High-Acceleration Ability (RHAA) bouts in elite youth football games using 10-Hz GPS devices and two relative thresholds derived from players' actual maximal acceleration. Thirty-six outfield soccer players (age 14.9±0.6 years) participated in the study. Players wore 10-Hz GPS units during 41 official games. High accelerations were defined as efforts commencing above a threshold corresponding to 70% (T70%) or 80% (T80%) of the average 5-m acceleration obtained during a 40-m sprint test; RHAA bouts were defined as ≥3 efforts with ≤45 s recovery between efforts. Results were analysed via generalised linear mixed model and magnitude-based inferential statistics. On average, 8.0±4.6 and 5.1±3.5 bouts were detected in an entire game using T70% and T80%, respectively. When all positions were analysed together, there was a very-likely small difference in the number of RHAA bouts between first and second half for T70% and T80%, respectively. RHAA bouts occur frequently in elite youth football, with small differences between halves and between playing positions within the first or second half in most variables assessed.

Moving Toward a More Comprehensive Analysis of Acceleration Profiles in Elite Youth Football

“…High-intensity accelerations were defined as efforts commencing above a threshold corresponding to 70% of a player's individual maximal acceleration capacity, where an effort was required to remain above the 70% threshold for at least 0.3 s to be classified as an acceleration, and was considered to be concluded when acceleration returned to or fell below 0 m•s −2 (Serpiello et al, 2018). Repeated high acceleration ability bouts were defined as ≥3 efforts above the 70% threshold, with ≤45 s recovery between each effort (Serpiello et al, 2018). Average acceleration involved taking the absolute value of all acceleration data in matches (excluding any deceleration data), and averaging it over the duration of that specific match (Delaney et al, 2018(Delaney et al, , 2019.…”

“…Acceleration was derived from filtered velocity data over a 0.3 s interval (Serpiello et al, 2018 ). Maximal acceleration capacity was calculated via the average 5-m acceleration of all players obtained during a 40-m sprint test (Serpiello et al, 2018 ), completed within a dedicated testing session, scheduled before the start of the competitive season. Maximal acceleration capacity was retested every ~6 weeks throughout the entire season, resulting in up to 5 individual 40-m sprint tests for each player.…”

“…Up to now, few studies in football have investigated multiple acceleration variables, simultaneously (Barberó-Álvarez et al, 2014 ; Barron et al, 2016 ; Sonderegger et al, 2016 ; Abbott et al, 2018a , b ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ; Delaney et al, 2019 ; Martínez-Cabrera et al, 2021 ). Commonly used acceleration variables—including high-intensity efforts (Sonderegger et al, 2016 ; Abbott et al, 2018a , b ; Martínez-Cabrera et al, 2021 ), repeated bouts (Barberó-Álvarez et al, 2014 ; Barron et al, 2016 ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ), and average acceleration (Delaney et al, 2018 , 2019 )—have typically been investigated in isolation, with each variable suffering from unique limitations. Subsequently, any findings may provide a limited representation of what specific acceleration demands had actually occurred.…”

“…The ability to repeatedly accelerate amidst short recoveries may also be important in football (Barron et al, 2016 ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ). Literature investigating repeat high-intensity accelerations in football found that repeated bouts occur frequently in matches (Barron et al, 2016 ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ), suggesting their importance and subsequent need for development.…”

“…The ability to repeatedly accelerate amidst short recoveries may also be important in football (Barron et al, 2016 ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ). Literature investigating repeat high-intensity accelerations in football found that repeated bouts occur frequently in matches (Barron et al, 2016 ; Serpiello et al, 2018 ), suggesting their importance and subsequent need for development. However, a limitation exists when monitoring repeated (and/or single effort) high-intensity accelerations in isolation: any accelerations that have occurred below their predetermined “high-intensity” thresholds are disregarded, efforts that would still carry their own accumulative metabolic cost (Osgnach et al, 2010 ; Beato and Drust, 2021 ).…”