Effects of pacing, status and unbalance in time motion variables, heart rate and tactical behaviour when playing 5-a-side football small-sided games.

OBJECTIVES: To compare time-motion variables, heart rate and players' tactical behaviour according to game pace (slow, normal or fast), status (winning and losing) and team unbalance (superiority and inferiority) in football 5-a-side small-sided games. To identify the most discriminating variables in classifying performances according to these constraints. DESIGN: Cross-sectional field study. METHODS: The data were gathered using global positioning systems (5 Hz) in 5-a-side small-sided games (7 × 5 min) played by twenty-four footballers. The tactical performance was measured using dynamical positioning variables, processed by non-linear signal processing techniques (approximate entropy). ANOVA models were used to compare between constraints and discriminant analyses to identify the variables that best discriminate between pacing and status × unbalance constraints. RESULTS: The fast paced games had the highest mean speed value, followed by normal and slow paced games (8.2 ± 0.6 km h(-1), 7.8 ± 0.5 km h(-1) and 6.2 ± 0.4 km h(-1), respectively). The stronger predictor variables of pacing were the randomness in distance to team centroid and the distances covered above 13 km h(-1). The results also changed according to game status and team unbalance. The strongest predictor variables were the distance covered below 6.9 km h(-1), distance and randomness to team centroid, with higher values when winning in superiority conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Practice task design manipulating game pace, status and team unbalance significantly influenced the emergent behavioural dynamics. Collective positioning variables were more accurate in discriminating these constraints and, therefore, need to be considered when planning and monitoring performance.

Effects of the number of players and game type constraints on heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and technical actions of small-sided soccer games.

The purpose of this study was to identify the variation of heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and technical actions between 2 soccer small-sided games (SSGs; 3 × 3 and 4 × 4) in 3 game type constraints (when playing only offense [OFF], playing only defense [DEF], and both situations [GAME]). Sixteen high-level young male players were analyzed (age 15.75 ± 0.45 years; height 172.4 ± 4.83 cm; body mass 64.5 ± 6.44 kg; HRmax199.1 ± 9.08 b·min(-1); and 8.06 ± 1.98 years of soccer practice). All tasks were performed in 4 periods of 4 minutes interspersed with 2 minutes of active recovery. The HR was measured continuously and then analyzed by the time spent into 4 training zones according to individual %HRmax (zone 1 <75%; zone 2 75-84.9%; zone 3 85-89.9%; and zone 4 ≥90%). Results identified that players were most frequently in zones 2 and 3. The 3 × 3 SSGs elicited higher HR and RPE and the most intense situation was GAME. Despite the known higher frequencies from technical actions in SSGs with fewer players, player effectiveness in 3 × 3 and 4 × 4 was identical. The use of GAME, OFF, and DEF game type constraints should be carefully planned. Using the 3 × 3 format seems more adequate when aiming for aerobic performance optimal effects; however, DEF situations should only be used to promote aerobic recovery effects. The inclusion of an additional player in SSGs had different interactions in game type constraints, and only GAME presented adequate intensity.

A review on the effects of soccer small-sided games.

Over the last years there has been a substantial growth in research related to specific training methods in soccer with a strong emphasis on the effects of small-sided games. The increase of research in this topic is coincident with the increase of popularity obtained by specific soccer conditioning, which involves training players to deal with soccer match situations. Given the limited time available for fitness training in soccer, the effectiveness of small-sided games as a conditioning stimulus needs to be optimized to allow players to compete at the highest level. Available studies indicate that physiological responses (e.g. heart rate, blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion), tactical and technical skill requirements can be modified during small-sided games by altering factors such as the number of players, the size of the pitch, the rules of the game, and coach encouragement. However, because of the lack of consistency in small-sided games design, player fitness, age, ability, level of coach encouragement, and playing rules in each of these studies, it is difficult to make accurate conclusions on the influence of each of these factors separately.