Nakamura, FY, Pereira, LA, Loturco, I, Rosseti, M, Moura, FA and Bradley, PS
Repeated-sprint sequences during female soccer matches using fixed and
individual speed thresholds.
http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/6295/
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Citation (please note it is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you
intend to cite from this work)
Nakamura, FY, Pereira, LA, Loturco, I, Rosseti, M, Moura, FA and Bradley,
PS (2017) Repeated-sprint sequences during female soccer matches using
fixed and individual speed thresholds. Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research. ISSN 1533-4287
LJMU Research Online
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Publish Ahead of Print
DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001659
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Repeated-sprint sequences during female soccer matches using fixed and individual
speed thresholds
Repeated sprints in female soccer matches
FÁBIO Y. NAKAMURA
1,2*
, LUCAS A. PEREIRA
1
, IRINEU LOTURCO
1
, MARCELO
ROSSETI
3
, FELIPE A. MOURA
2,4
, & PAUL S. BRADLEY
5
1
Nucleus of High Performance in Sport, São Paulo, Brazil;
2
State University of Londrina, Brazil;
3
Grêmio Osasco Audax, Osasco, Brazil;
4
Laboratory of Applied Biomechanics, Londrina, Brazil;
5
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University,
Liverpool, United Kingdom.
*Fabio Y. Nakamura
NAR – Nucleus of High Performance in Sport,
Av. Padre José Maria, 555, Santo Amaro, 04753-060, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
e-mail: fabioy_nakamura@yahoo.com.br
Copyright ª 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association
ACCEPTED
1
ABSTRACT
2
The main objective of this study was to characterize the occurrence of single sprint and
3
repeated-sprint sequences (RSS) during elite female soccer matches, using fixed (20
4
km
.
h
-1
) and individually based speed thresholds (>90% of the mean speed from a 20 m
5
sprint test). Eleven elite female soccer players from the same team participated in the
6
study. All players performed a 20 m linear sprint test, and were assessed in up to 10
7
official matches using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Magnitude-based
8
inferences were used to test for meaningful differences. Results revealed that
9
irrespective of adopting fixed or individual speed thresholds, female players produced
10
only a few RSS during matches (2.3 ± 2.4 sequences using the fixed threshold and 3.3 ±
11
3.0 sequences using the individually based threshold), with most sequences composing
12
of just two sprints. Additionally, central defenders performed fewer sprints (10.2 ± 4.1)
13
than other positions (full backs: 28.1 ± 5.5; midfielders: 21.9 ± 10.5; forwards: 31.9 ±
14
11.1; with likely to almost certainly differences associated with effect sizes ranging
15
from 1.65 to 2.72) and sprinting ability declined in the second half. The data do not
16
support the notion that RSS occurs frequently during soccer matches in female players,
17
irrespective of using fixed or individual speed thresholds to define sprint occurrence.
18
However, repeated sprint ability development cannot be ruled out from soccer training
19
programs due to its association with match-related performance.
20
Keywords: football, fitness, time-motion analysis, women.
21
22
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24
25
Copyright ª 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association
ACCEPTED
26
INTRODUCTION
27
Interest in match analysis has increased in the last few decades, since this allows
28
sport scientists to determine the current demands of match play in order to translate this
29
data into specific training and testing protocols (11). Although elite soccer players
30
require a number of physical characteristics such as peak speed reached during the
31
incremental field test (30) and speed associated with the ventilatory threshold (25),
32
repeated-sprint ability (RSA) is arguably one of the most important physical qualities in
33
team sports, presumably owing to the frequency of its occurrence during matches (13,
34
18, 35). Additionally, research demonstrates that the ability to perform successive
35
sprints with minimal recovery during matches demarcates players in different
36
competitive standards and positions (3, 31). Recently, studies have questioned the
37
occurrence of repeated-sprint bouts during soccer matches showing that only a few
38
repeated-sprint sequences (RSS) occur during matches (10, 33). Due to concerns
39
regarding the validity of RSS in team sports, some researchers have redefined it as
40
“repeated acceleration ability”, as this may describe the demands of a soccer match
41
more accurately (4). This is especially true as metabolically taxing accelerations do not
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always reach fixed sprinting thresholds (14, 36), but are more likely to hit an
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individualized sprinting threshold (i.e., a percentage speed relative to the individual’s
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maximal sprinting performance). However, the accurate quantification of accelerations
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seems to demand tracking technologies with higher sampling frequency (34). Therefore,
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more studies are necessary to better understand the profile of sprinting activities during
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official soccer matches and to provide additional information about the occurrence of
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RSS using individualized speed thresholds. The importance of such studies lies on the
49
fact that previous research used different methods (some lacking accuracy) to profile
50
Copyright ª 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association
ACCEPTED
sprint occurrences during matches without taking into account the individual differences
51
in physical capacities, by applying fixed sprint thresholds to all players.
52
Female soccer has become popular worldwide, and this has resulted in an
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increased number of investigations examining the physical demands of matches (8).
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Surprisingly, limited information exists on the occurrence of single and RSS in elite
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female players’ during official matches. Gabbett, et al. (18) found that 2 consecutive
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sprints interspersed with ≤20 s recovery occurred ~5 times per player per match, with
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repeated sprint episodes progressively decreasing as the number of sprints per sequence
58
increased. However, the use of video-based analysis may lead to inherent errors due to
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the subjective judgment of the observer when characterizing the type of effort
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performed (32). Possibly, this “subjective technology” leads to the overestimation of
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RSS in previous research (35). Therefore, the frequency and the characteristics of single
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and repeated-sprint efforts during female soccer matches require further investigation,
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preferably using more objective (i.e., not relying on researchers’ subjective
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classification of the locomotor activities) and precise technologies. This knowledge may
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provide coaches with useful information to assess the sprint capacity and the RSA of
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their players, and also enables them to create specific testing protocols and prescribe
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training sessions to improve these capacities.
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In a study using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to quantify single sprinting
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actions (>18 km
.
h
-1
) in elite female soccer players (37), forwards performed more
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sprints (43 ± 10) than midfielders (31 ± 11) and defenders (36 ± 12). The mean time
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between consecutive sprints was >2 min. Although valuable, these data do not report the
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occurrence of RSS. Moreover, the threshold of 18 km
.
h
-1
to define a sprint was set
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arbitrarily, and has been recently revised by the same author, who updated it to 20 km
.
h
-
74
1
(8). Owing to the great variability in sprinting ability among female players (38), it
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Copyright ª 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association
ACCEPTED
