The aim of this study was to examine the impact of contextual factors on relative locomotor and metabolic power distances during professional female soccer matches. Twenty-eight players (forwards, n = 4; midfielders, n = 12; defenders, n = 12) that competed in a 90-min home and away match (regular season only). The generalised estimating equations (GEE) was used to evaluate relative locomotor and metabolic power distances for three contextual factors: location (home vs. away), type of turf (natural vs. artificial), and match outcome (win, loss and draw). No differences were observed for home vs. away matches. Moderate-intensity running (20.0 ± 1.0 m min-1 and 16.4 ± 0.9 m min-1), high-intensity running (8.6 ± 0.4 m min-1 and 7.3 ± 0.4 m min-1) and high-metabolic power (16.3 ± 0.5 m min-1 and 14.4 ± 0.5 m min-1) distances were elevated on artificial turf compared to natural grass, respectively. Relative sprint distance was greater during losses compared with draws (4.3 ± 0.4 m min-1 and 3.4 ± 0.3 m min-1). Overall physical demands of professional women's soccer were not impacted by match location. However, the elevation of moderate and high-intensity demands while playing on artificial turf may have implications on match preparations as well as recovery strategies.
Keywords: Women’s soccer; contextual factors; metabolic power; motion analysis.