Biology of Sport
eISSN: 2083-1862
ISSN: 0860-021X
Biology of Sport
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4/2023
vol. 40
 
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abstract:
Original paper

Does player age influence match physical performance? A longitudinal four-season analysis in Spanish Soccer LaLiga

Tomás García-Calvo
1
,
Florentino Huertas
2
,
José Carlos Ponce-Bordón
1
,
Roberto López del Campo
3
,
Ricardo Resta
3
,
Rafael Ballester
2

  1. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Spain
  2. Faculty of Physical Education & Sport Sciences, Catholic University of Valencia, Spain
  3. LaLiga Sport Research Section, Madrid, Spain
Biol Sport. 2023;40(4):1097–1106
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2023.124844
Online publish date: 2023/03/21
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This study aims to analyse the evolution of match running performance in relation to the age distribution of professional soccer players using a large-scale analysis. An explorational-longitudinal and retrospective study was designed and a total of 36,883 individual match observations were collected on outfield players competing across four consecutive Spanish LaLiga seasons (from 2015/16 to 2018/19), using an optical tracking system (ChyronHego). Soccer players were divided into 3 age groups: young (18–24 years old), middleaged (25–30 years old), and seniors (31–41 years old). Relative total distance (TD/min), distance covered at 21–24 km· h−1 (HIRD/min), and > 24 km· h−1 per minute (VHIRD/min) were analysed; also, the number of efforts at 21–24 km·h−1 (Sp21) and > 24 km·h−1 (Sp24) were taken into consideration. Seasons were divided into four phases (P): P1 (matches 1–10), P2 (11–19), P3 (20–29), and P4 (30–38). The results showed that young players covered significantly greater TD, HIRD and VHIRD than the rest of the players (p < .05) in all season phases. In addition, TD significantly decreased along season phases in all player age group (p < .01). Crucially, young players performed significantly greater numbers of Sp21 and Sp24 than the rest of the players (p < .05) in all season phases. In addition, Sp21 and SP24 significantly decreased in middle-aged (p < .01) and senior players (p < .05) across the seasons. This study demonstrated that players’ match running performance decreases with increasing years, especially in high-intensity running distances.
keywords:

age group, aging, football, longitudinal analysis, match running performance

  
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