Author(s): BARROS, T., NAKAMURA, F.Y., FILHO, R.S.L., SILVA, N.M.G., LIMA, V.F., BIBROWICZ, B., HENRIQUE, R.S. , Institution: UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE PERNAMBUCO, Country: BRAZIL, Abstract-ID: 2549

INTRODUCTION:
Sprinting in soccer has received considerable attention due to its occurrence at decisive moments of the match (1). However, most sprint actions occur in a curvilinear trajectory (2). Few studies have investigated which field-based physical abilities correlate with curved sprinting (CS) performance, and how these relationships evolve across age categories. Thus, the the study aimed to investigate the differences of CS from the U-13 to Senior category and the relationship between CS and different physical abilities (linear sprint, change of direction, and vertical jump) in highly trained soccer players across different age categories.
METHODS:
121 male soccer players from the U13 (n=25; 11.0-12.9 years old), U15 (n=35; 13.0-14.9 years old), U17 (n=31; 15.0–16.9 years old) and Senior (n=30; aged 25.59 ± 3.83) categories of a Brazilian soccer club performed: (1) maximal 20-m linear sprint (LS) test (2) maximal 17-m CS test on arc of the area of an official soccer field with dominant and non-dominant legs; (3) Zigzag 20 m change-of-direction (COD) test; and (4) a countermovement jump (CMJ) test on a contact platform. The CS test was then classified as a good side (fastest side) and a weak side (slowest side). Pearson’s correlation test and One-way ANOVA were used to verify the relationship between physical tests and to compare performance tests according to the maturity groups, respectively. Cohen’s d effect size was used to the magnitude of differences between groups in the CS performance.
RESULTS:
CS performance for the good and weak sides increased as age categories increased, Differences between all pairs of age categories were moderate to very large, with Cohen’s d varying from 0.90 to 5.72 for both legs. Correlations were found for CS good and weak side, and LS-20m in all groups, with r-values varying from 0.38 to 0.77. Only the U-15 and U-17 groups exhibited statistically significant correlations between CS and COD, for both age categories the r-values were lower in the CSGS (r = 0.46 and 0.48) than CSWS (r = 0.59 and 0.64). Excepting for the U-17 group, correlations between CS and CMJ were statistically significant in all age categories for both the good and weak sides (U-13: r = 0.61 and 0.67; U-15: r = 0.46 and r = 0.66; Senior: r = 0.57 and r = 0.58).
CONCLUSION:
CS performance evolved across age categories. In addition, moderate to moderately high relationships were observed between CS, both on the good and weak sides, and LS, 20-m COD, and CMJ performance, although the pattern did not always increase or decrease as a function of advancing age. Given that the most strongly correlated tests only shared a maximum of 46% of the shared variance, it is plausible to assume that in soccer players under the age of 17, maximum sprint speed in curved and linear trajectories, COD, and CMJ are abilities that can be considered and trained independent of each other.

1. Gualtieri et al., 2023 2. Caldbeck & Dos’Santos, 2022