Variability of peak speed and sprinting actions during the same small-sided games: within- and between-player variations inspected over four consecutive weeks

Piotr Makar; Ana Filipa Silva; Adam Kawczyński; Zeki Akyildiz; Mehmet Yıldız; Gibson Praça; Filipe Manuel Clemente

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2023.124846

Variability of peak speed and sprinting actions during the same small-sided games: within- and between-player variations inspected over four consecutive weeks

Biol Sport. 2023 Oct;40(4):959-965. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2023.124846. Epub 2023 Feb 3.

Authors

Piotr Makar¹, Ana Filipa Silva^{2

3

4}, Adam Kawczyński¹, Zeki Akyildiz⁵, Mehmet Yıldız⁶, Gibson Praça⁷, Filipe Manuel Clemente^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Gdańsk University of Physical Education and Sport, Poland.
² Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun'Álvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
³ Research Center in Sports Performance, Recreation, Innovation and Technology (SPRINT), 4960-320 Melgaço, Portugal.
⁴ The Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁵ Faculty of Sport Sciences, Gazi University, 06560 Ankara, Turkey.
⁶ Afyon Kocatepe University Sports Science Faculty, Turkey.
⁷ Sports Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
⁸ Instituto de Telecomunicações, Delegação da Covilhã, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal.

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze within- and between-player variations of peak speed and sprinting actions occurring in small-sided games (SSGs: 1 v 1 and 5 v 5). The study followed a cohort study design. Twenty male youth soccer players (age: 17 years old) from the same team were observed over four consecutive weeks. Each week, the players participated in two sessions (day one and day two) during which SSGs were applied. The 1 vs. 1 format was employed with four repetitions of thirty seconds interspaced with two-minute rest intervals, while the 5 vs. 5 format with four repetitions of four minutes and two-minute rest intervals between them. The players were monitored during all training sessions with the Polar Team Pro. The peak speed attained in each game, and the number of sprints were extracted as the primary outcomes. The between-player variability revealed a lower coefficient of variations for peak speed in the 1 vs. 1 (13.9%) and 5 vs. 5 (10.9%) formats than for sprints (1 v 1: 64.7%; 5 v 5: 65.5%). Considering the within-player variability, it was observed that sprints were more variable (1 vs. 1: 62.1%; 5 v 5: 65.7%) than peak speed (1 vs. 1: 16.4%; 5 v 5: 14.0%). The between-session analysis revealed that during week 1 (day 1), peak speed was significantly higher than during week 3 (day 1) in the 1 vs. 1 format (+3.0 km/h; p = 0.031; d = 1.296). Moreover, peak speed during week 3 (day 2) was considerably lower than during week 1 (-5.9 km/h; p < 0.001; d = 1.686) and week 2 (-5.0 km/h; p = 0.001; d = 1.639). The between-session analysis showed no significant differences in the sprint between the sessions on day 1 (p > 0.05). However, on day two, the sprint was substantially higher during week one than during week four in the 5 vs. 5 format (+5.40 n; p = 0.002; d = 2.571). In conclusion, this study revealed that peak speed presents lower within- and between-player variability than the number of sprints. Considering these two measures, there are no considerable variations between the weeks. Coaches should consider identifying strategies to stabilize the stimulus regarding the number of sprints if this represents one of the targets for employing SSGs.

Keywords: Exercise testing; External load; Football; Physical assessment; Training monitoring.