Resisted Sprint Velocity in Female Soccer Players: Influence of Physical Capacities

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of different sled overloads on maximum sprint velocity achieved by female soccer players with different strength, speed, and power levels. Twenty elite female soccer players from the same club participated. On the same day, athletes performed: linear and resisted-sprint tests with 30 and 60 % of body-mass over 5-, 10-, and 20-m; half-squat maximum bar-power output, and half-squat one-repetition maximum assessment. A median split analysis was used to divide players into two groups according to their velocity, half-squat one-repetition maximum, and half-squat power. Differences in percentage decreases between unresisted- and resisted-sprints comparing higher and lower groups were analyzed using magnitude-based inferences. Overall, the stronger, faster, and more powerful players were less affected by both loads, as demonstrated by their lower decreases in velocity over the different distances. However, half-squat power appeared to be more sensitive for indicating impairments in resisted-sprint performance, due to meaningful differences in percentage decreases observed between higher and lower power groups. Notably, overloads of 30 and 60% of body-mass provoked substantial reductions in resisted-sprint velocity (~22.9% for 30% and ~51.4% for 60% of body-mass, relative to unresisted-sprint velocity). Athletes with superior power levels are less affected by the progressive sled overloading.

Key words

team-sports - football - velocity - sprint ability - sled towing

• References

• 1 Barnes C, Archer DT, Hogg B. et al. The evolution of physical and technical performance parameters in the English Premier League. Int J Sports Med 2014; 35: 1095-1100
• 2 Faude O, Koch T, Meyer T. Straight sprinting is the most frequent action in goal situations in professional football. J Sports Sci 2012; 30: 625-631
• 3 Loturco I, Pereira LA, Freitas TT. et al. Maximum acceleration performance of professional soccer players in linear sprints: Is there a direct connection with change-of-direction ability?. PLoS One 2019; 14: e0216806
• 4 Bush M, Barnes C, Archer DT. et al. Evolution of match performance parameters for various playing positions in the English Premier League. Hum Mov Sci 2015; 39: 1-11
• 5 Cottle CA, Carlson LA, Lawrence MA. Effects of sled towing on sprint starts. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 1241-1245
• 6 Lockie RG, Murphy AJ, Spinks CD. Effects of resisted sled towing on sprint kinematics in field-sport athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2003; 17: 760-767
• 7 Alcaraz PE, Carlos-Vivas J, Oponjuru BO. et al. The effectiveness of Resisted Sled Training (RST) for sprint performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med 2018; 48: 2143-2165
• 8 Rumpf MC, Cronin JB, Mohamad IN. et al. The effect of resisted sprint training on maximum sprint kinetics and kinematics in youth. Eur J Sport Sci 2015; 15: 374-381
• 9 Cross MR, Samozino P, Brown SR. et al. A comparison between the force-velocity relationships of unloaded and sled-resisted sprinting: single vs. multiple trial methods. Eur J Appl Physiol 2018; 118: 563-571
• 10 Saraslanidis P. Training for the improvement of maximum speed: flat running or resistance training. New Studies in Athletics 2000; 15: 45-51
• 11 Loturco I, Kobal R, Kitamura K. et al. Mixed training methods: effects of combining resisted sprints or plyometrics with optimum power loads on sprint and agility performance in professional soccer players. Front Physiol 2017; 8: 1034
• 12 Morin JB, Petrakos G, Jimenez-Reyes P. et al. Very-heavy sled training for improving horizontal-force output in soccer players. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2017; 12: 840-844
• 13 Petrakos G, Morin JB, Egan B. Resisted sled sprint training to improve sprint performance: A systematic review. Sports Med 2016; 46: 381-400
• 14 Morin JB, Edouard P, Samozino P. Technical ability of force application as a determinant factor of sprint performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2011; 43: 1680-1688
• 15 Cormie P, McGuigan MR, Newton RU. Developing maximal neuromuscular power: Part 2 - Training considerations for improving maximal power production. Sports Med 2011; 41: 125-146
• 16 Luteberget LS, Raastad T, Seynnes O. et al. Effect of traditional and resisted sprint training in highly trained female team handball players. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2015; 10: 642-647
• 17 Upton DE. The effect of assisted and resisted sprint training on acceleration and velocity in Division IA female soccer athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2011; 25: 2645-2652
• 18 Harriss DJ, Macsween A, Atkinson G. Standards for ethics in sport and exercise science research: 2020 Update. Int J Sports Med 2019; 40: 813-817
• 19 Loturco I, Suchomel T, Bishop C. et al. One-repetition-maximum measures or maximum bar-power output: Which is more related to sport performance?. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2019; 14: 33-37
• 20 Loturco I, Kobal R, Maldonado T. et al. Jump squat is more related to sprinting and jumping abilities than Olympic push press. Int J Sports Med 2017; 38: 604-612
• 21 Loturco I, Suchomel T, James LP. et al. Selective influences of maximum dynamic strength and bar-power output on team sports performance: A comprehensive study of four different disciplines. Front Physiol 2018; 9: 1820
• 22 Batterham AM, Hopkins WG. Making meaningful inferences about magnitudes. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2006; 1: 50-57
• 23 Hopkins WG, Marshall SW, Batterham AM. et al. Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2009; 41: 3-13
• 24 Brechue WF, Mayhew JL, Piper FC. Characteristics of sprint performance in college football players. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24: 1169-1178
• 25 Hudgins B, Scharfenberg J, Triplett NT. et al. Relationship between jumping ability and running performance in events of varying distance. J Strength Cond Res 2013; 27: 563-567
• 26 Loturco I, Pereira LA, Cal Abad CC. et al. Vertical and horizontal jump tests are strongly associated with competitive performance in 100-m dash events. J Strength Cond Res 2015; 29: 1966-1971
• 27 Wisloff U, Castagna C, Helgerud J. et al. Strong correlation of maximal squat strength with sprint performance and vertical jump height in elite soccer players. Br J Sports Med 2004; 38: 285-288
• 28 Cross MR, Lahti J, Brown SR. et al. Training at maximal power in resisted sprinting: Optimal load determination methodology and pilot results in team sport athletes. PLoS One 2018; 13: e0195477
• 29 Nilsson J, Thorstensson A. Ground reaction forces at different speeds of human walking and running. Acta Physiol Scand 1989; 136: 217-227
• 30 Bradley PS, Sheldon W, Wooster B. et al. High-intensity running in English FA Premier League soccer matches. J Sports Sci 2009; 27: 159-168
• 31 Contreras B, Vigotsky AD, Schoenfeld BJ. et al. Effects of a six-week hip thrust vs. front squat resistance training program on performance in adolescent males: A randomized controlled trial. J Strength Cond Res 2017; 31: 999-1008
• 32 Williams MJ, Gibson NV, Sorbie GG. et al. Activation of the gluteus maximus during performance of the back squat, split squat, and barbell hip thrust and the relationship with maximal sprinting. J Strength Cond Res. 2018
• 33 Clark KP, Stearne DJ, Walts CT. et al. The longitudinal effects of resisted sprint training using weighted sleds vs. weighted vests. J Strength Cond Res 2010; 24: 3287-3295
• 34 Mangine GT, Huet K, Williamson C. et al. A resisted sprint improves rate of force development during a 20-m sprint in athletes. J Strength Cond Res 2018; 32: 1531-1537
• 35 Kawamori N, Newton RU, Hori N. et al. Effects of weighted sled towing with heavy versus light load on sprint acceleration ability. J Strength Cond Res 2014; 28: 2738-2745
• 36 Rumpf MC, Cronin JB, Mohamad IN. et al. Acute effects of sled towing on sprint time in male youth of different maturity status. Pediatr Exerc Sci 2014; 26: 71-75
• 37 Maulder PS. The Physical Power Pre-Requisites and Acute Effects of Resisted Sled Loading on Sprint Running Kinematics of the Early Acceleration Phase from Starting Blocks [Master Thesis]. Auckland: Auckland University of Technology; 2005 143.
• 38 Loturco I, Kobal R, Kitamura K. et al. Predictive factors of elite sprint performance: influences of muscle mechanical properties and functional parameters. J Strength Cond Res 2019; 33: 974-986
• 39 Lopez-Segovia M, Marques MC, van den Tillaar R. et al. Relationships between vertical jump and full squat power outputs with sprint times in u21 soccer players. J Hum Kinet 2011; 30: 135-144
• 40 Santiago C, Gonzalez-Freire M, Serratosa L. et al. ACTN3 genotype in professional soccer players. Br J Sports Med 2008; 42: 71-73