Women occasionally train with men in order to benefit from the physically more intense and technically more advanced men`s football play. Yet, there is little evidence on what changes when women train with men. The present study aimed to evaluate the physical and technical-tactical differences between single- and mixed-gender training exercises in female elite soccer players. Methods Eight female elite soccer players (mean age: 18.8±2.1 y) played a 6 vs. 6 small-sided training game (SSG) for four minutes on two occasions: once with two all-female teams (SSGfem) and once with two mixed-gender teams (SSGmix) (one female player and five U-16 boys). Four physical (% maximum heart rate (%HRmax), lactate concentration (LA), rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and covered distance (DIST)) and nine technical-tactical (e.g., "number of ball contacts per player") variables measured using a video system were compared between the two settings. Results & Discussion In the physical parameters, the effect sizes (ES) of the differences between SSGfem and SSGmix were only small to moderate (DIST 543.1±30.8m vs. 546±43.2m, ES 0.07; RPE 13.1±1.7 vs. 13.6±0.9, ES 0.29; %HRmax 92.1±1.9 vs. 91.8±2.8, ES -0.14; LA 4.6±1.1 vs. 5.4±1.8mmol/l, ES 0.53 (95%-CI -0.31-1.37). In the technical-tactical parameters, the biggest differences appeared in "ball contacts per ball possession" (SSGfem 2.2±0.4 vs. SSGmix 1.7±0.3, ES -1.15 (-1.98--0.31)), "time per ball possession" (1.18±0.4s vs. 0.86±0.4 s. ES -0.77 (-1.61-0.06)) and "% one-touch passes" (36.2±16.3 vs. 47.2±18.7, ES 0.59 (-0.24-1.43), suggesting higher technical demand in SSGmix than SSGfem. In SSGmix, however, fewer "involvements with the ball" (9.8±1.8 vs. 8.5±2.7, ES -0.51 (-1.35-0.32)), "ball contacts" (20.9±7.4 vs. 15.1±6.2, ES -0.80 (-1.64-0.03)) and "passes" (8.6±1.9 vs. 7.3±2.4, ES -0.53 (-1.37-0.30)) also were recorded. Conclusion The results suggests that female soccer players may benefit more from technical (skill proficiency) than physical aspects in a mixed-gender SSG, although the quantity of ball contacts is lower compared to single-gender SSG.
© Copyright 2011 7th World Congress on Science and Football (WCSF), 2011. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.