Influence of Biological Maturity on the Match Performance of 8- to 16-Year-Old, Elite, Male, Youth Soccer Players

• Autores: Heita Goto, John G. Morris, Mary E. Nevill
• Localización: Journal of strength and conditioning research: the research journal of the NSCA, ISSN 1064-8011, Vol. 33, Nº. 11, 2019, págs. 3078-3084
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The aim of this study was to examine the influence of biological maturity on match performance in elite, youth, male soccer players. The participants were 80 Premier League Academy outfield players (8-16 years old). Biological maturity was determined by calculating estimated chronological age at peak height velocity. The U9 and U10 squads played 6-a-side and the U11-U16 squads played 11-a-side interacademy matches. All matches were analyzed using a 1-Hz global positioning system (SPI Elite(TM), GPSports, Canberra, Australia) with squad-specific speed zones, which were calculated based on 5-m flying sprint speed in the last 5 m of 10-m sprint test. In the U9/U10s, earlier maturers were given a longer pitch time by coaches (~4 minutes per match; p = 0.029) and covered a greater total distance (~9%; ~400 m; p = 0.037) and a greater distance by walking (~13%; ~100 m; p = 0.024) and jogging (~12%; ~200 m; p = 0.014) during a match compared with later maturers. In the U13/U14s, earlier maturers covered a greater distance per hour of a match by high-speed running compared with later maturers (~25%; ~130 m; p = 0.028) and spent a longer percentage of time in high-speed running during a match compared with later maturers (3.4% vs. 2.7%, p = 0.034). Thus, coaches should take care to provide all players with a similar pitch time and should be aware in the talent identification and development process, particularly with the U13/U14 age group, because maturity can influence high-speed match running performance.