In soccer, the attainment of maximal speed in an action could be unnecessary due to the tactical demands of the game (Carling, et al., 2008). Instead, more decisive could be the player`s ability to perform short accelerations, as well as decelerations with a quick stop (Tessitore et al., 2008). Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the linear sprinting ability of young players on sprints performed with different arrival tasks: flying and quick stop. Methods: Following parental consent, 39 Italian U.12 soccer players (born in 2001 and 2002) four straight sprint tests were administered on a 4th generation artificial grass field, with players wearing soccer shoes. Performance was assessed in a single session with the following order: a flying 15-m sprint with timing gates positioned at 5m, 10m and 15m, and 3 sprints at corresponding distances with a quick stop (QS) arrival (5mQS, 10mQS and 15mQS). Players performed two trials of each test, with at least 2min and 5min rest between trials and tests, respectively. Sprint time was recorded to the nearest 0.01s using a telemetric photocells system (Microgate, Bolzano, Italy). The best score was used for statistical analysis. A 2 (condition: flying and quick stop) x 3 (distance: 5m, 10m, and 15m) ANOVA for repeated measures (p<0.05) was applied. A correlation matrix was calculated between tests. Results: As expected, main effects (p<0.0001) emerged for condition and distance with faster flying performances (5m=1.31±0.06s, 10m=2.23±0.10s, 15m=3.09±0.16s), with respect to the quick stop ones (5mQS=1.53±0.12s, 10mQS=2.61±0.18s, 15mQS=3.54±0.23s). Differences between conditions were 0.22±0.08s, 0.39±0.11s and 0.44±0.10s for 5m, 10m, and 15m, respectively. High correlations emerged between the three distances in the two conditions (flying: r=0.88-0.98; quick stop: r=0.79-0.81). Between conditions, correlations tended to increase with increasing sprint distance (5m: r=0.72, 10m: r=0.80, 15m: r=0.90). Discussion: In critical match activities such as being first on the ball, moving into space before an opponent, increasing the ability to perform short decelerations with a quick stop can be very helpful for players. The findings of this study demonstrated as the ability showed in a flying sprint tasks is not as closely related with a sprint with a quick stop task, especially on a short distance (5 m). This aspect opens a question about the necessity to train this ability in a specific manner and to assess it.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Published by Vrije Universiteit Brussel. All rights reserved.