Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is performed by men and women, children and adults with different levels of expertise. Soccer performance depends upon a myriad of factors such as technical/biomechanical, tactical, mental and physiological areas. One of the reasons that soccer is so popular worldwide is that players may not need to have an extraordinary capacity within any of these performance areas, but possess a reasonable level within all areas. However, there are trends towards more systematic training and selection influencing the anthropometric profiles of players who compete at the highest level. As with other activities, soccer is not a science, but science may help improve performance. Efforts to improve soccer performance often focus on technique and tactics at the expense of physical fitness. During a 90-minute game, elite-level players run about 10 km at an average intensity close to the anaerobic threshold (80-90% of maximal heart rate). Within this endurance context, numerous explosive bursts of activity are required, including jumping, kicking, tackling, turning, sprinting, changing pace, and sustaining forceful contractions to maintain balance and control of the ball against defensive pressure. The best teams continue to increase their physical capacities, whilst the less well ranked have similar values as reported 30 years ago. Whether this is a result of fewer assessments and training resources, selling the best players, and/or knowledge of how to perform effective exercise training regimens in less well ranked teams, is not known. As there do exist teams from lower divisions with as high aerobic capacity as professional teams, the latter factor probably plays an important role. This article provides an update on the physiology of soccer players and referees, and relevant physiological tests. It also gives examples of effective strength- and endurance-training programmes to improve on-field performance. The cited literature has been accumulated by computer searching of relevant databases and a review of the authors' extensive files. From a total of 9893 papers covering topics discussed in this article, 843 were selected for closer scrutiny, excluding studies where information was redundant, insufficient or the experimental design was inadequate. In this article, 181 were selected and discussed. The information may have important implications for the safety and success of soccer players and hopefully it should be understood and acted upon by coaches and individual soccer players.

http://carlocapelli.it/ftp/didattica/master calcio/bibliografia_essenziale/stolen_et_al_2005.pdf

Physiology of Soccer: An Update

Background: A high level of strength is inherent in elite soccer play, but the relation between maximal strength and sprint and jumping performance has not been studied thoroughly. Objective: To determine whether maximal strength correlates with sprint and vertical jump height in elite male soccer players. Methods: Seventeen international male soccer players (mean (SD) age 25.8 (2.9) years, height 177.3 (4.1) cm, weight 76.5 (7.6) kg, and maximal oxygen uptake 65.7 (4.3) ml/kg/min) were tested for maximal strength in half squats and sprinting ability (0–30 m and 10 m shuttle run sprint) and vertical jumping height. Result: There was a strong correlation between maximal strength in half squats and sprint performance and jumping height. Conclusions: Maximal strength in half squats determines sprint performance and jumping height in high level soccer players. High squat strength did not imply reduced maximal oxygen consumption. Elite soccer players should focus on maximal strength training, with emphasis on maximal mobilisation of concentric movements, which may improve their sprinting and jumping performance.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/38/3/285.full.pdf

Strong correlation of maximal squat strength with sprint performance and vertical jump height in elite soccer players

The purpose of the current paper is to present an integrative definition of coaching effectiveness and expertise that is both specific and conceptually grounded in the coaching, teaching, positive psychology, and athletes' development literature The article is organized into six sections The first section is used to situate the proposed definition in the predominant conceptual models of coaching The second, third, and fourth sections provide detailed discussion about each of the three components of the proposed definition of coaching effectiveness: (a) coaches' knowledge, (b) athletes' outcomes, and (c) coaching contexts The proposed definition is presented in the fifth section along with a clarification of common terminology and guiding postulates The final section includes implications for practice and research

/pdf/an-integrative-definition-of-coaching-effectiveness-and-4v5tzoqntx.pdf

An integrative definition of coaching effectiveness and expertise.

Research over the last decade has demonstrated that it is experience and the observation of other coaches that remain the primary sources of knowledge for coaches. Despite this, coach education and continuing professional development fail to draw effectively on this experience. Using the work of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper attempts to understand how the “art of coaching” can be characterized as structured improvisation and how experience is crucial to structuring coaching practice. An examination of current coach education and assessment demonstrates that coaching practice viewed as a composite of knowledge has not specifically addressed the pervasive influence of experience on coaching practice. Drawing on experiences from the educational field, we examine how coach education and continuing professional development can utilize mentoring and critical reflection to situate learning in the practical experience of coaching.

Coach Education and Continuing Professional Development: Experience and Learning to Coach

This review discusses previous literature that has examined the influence of muscular strength on various factors associated with athletic performance and the benefits of achieving greater muscular strength. Greater muscular strength is strongly associated with improved force-time characteristics that contribute to an athlete’s overall performance. Much research supports the notion that greater muscular strength can enhance the ability to perform general sport skills such as jumping, sprinting, and change of direction tasks. Further research indicates that stronger athletes produce superior performances during sport specific tasks. Greater muscular strength allows an individual to potentiate earlier and to a greater extent, but also decreases the risk of injury. Sport scientists and practitioners may monitor an individual’s strength characteristics using isometric, dynamic, and reactive strength tests and variables. Relative strength may be classified into strength deficit, strength association, or strength reserve phases. The phase an individual falls into may directly affect their level of performance or training emphasis. Based on the extant literature, it appears that there may be no substitute for greater muscular strength when it comes to improving an individual’s performance across a wide range of both general and sport specific skills while simultaneously reducing their risk of injury when performing these skills. Therefore, sport scientists and practitioners should implement long-term training strategies that promote the greatest muscular strength within the required context of each sport/event. Future research should examine how force-time characteristics, general and specific sport skills, potentiation ability, and injury rates change as individuals transition from certain standards or the suggested phases of strength to another.

The Importance of Muscular Strength in Athletic Performance

While it has been recognized that the coaching process is vulnerable to differing social pressures and constraints, the humanistic nature of the coaching process remains a little understood and under researched area. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to present a methodology that combines systematic observation and interpretive interview techniques to gain a thicker, deeper, and broader understanding of the instructional process within sport. Specifically, the multi-method framework presented herein concerns (a) identifying the instructional behaviors utilized by coaches within the practice environment, (b) generating an understanding of why coaches behave as they do within the practice environment, and (c) examining how their instructional strategies impact upon, and are understood by, their athletes in the coaching process. It is hoped that the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods suggested will make a significant contribution to the development of a greater understanding of ...

Toward an Holistic Understanding of the Coaching Process

Coach learning and development: A review of literature

Explores the lives and careers of physical education teachers from two perspectives. Firstly, teachers' life-stories illustrate how eight teachers became involved with sport, how they entered the physical education profession, why they developed particular teaching philosophies, and how they have tried to progress in their teaching careers. Secondly, a broader thematic analysis identifies issues which arise throughout the teachers' stories and locates them within the wider international research literature. Low status is identified as an enduring concern, and it is argued that this stems from a lack of empirical research into the educational outcomes which are claimed for physical education.

Robyn L. Jones

Papers

Strong correlation of maximal squat strength with sprint performance and vertical jump height in elite soccer players

Toward an Holistic Understanding of the Coaching Process

Coach learning and development: A review of literature

Physical Education: Teachers' Lives And Careers: PE, Sport And Educational Status

Handshakes, BBQs, and bullets: A tale of self-interest and regret in football coaching.