A comparison of match demands using ball-in-play versus whole match data in professional soccer players of the English Championship

Mernagh, Dylan, Weldon, Anthony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5762-332X, Wass, Josh, Phillips, John, Parmar, Nimai ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5540-123X, waldron, Mark and Turner, Anthony N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5121-432X (2021) A comparison of match demands using ball-in-play versus whole match data in professional soccer players of the English Championship. Sports, 9 (6) , e76. pp. 1-8. ISSN 2075-4663 [Article] (doi:10.3390/sports9060076)

PDF - Published version (with publisher's formatting) Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (224kB)

Abstract

This is the first study to report the Whole Match, ball-in-play (BiP), ball-out-of-play (BoP), and Max BiP (worst case scenario phases of play) demands of professional soccer players competing in the English Championship. Effective playing time per soccer game is typically < 60 min. When the ball is out of play, players spend time repositioning themselves, which is likely less physically demanding. Consequently, reporting whole-match demands may under-report the physical requirements of soccer players. Twenty professional soccer players, categorized via position (defenders, midfielders, and forwards) participated in this study. A repeated measures design was used to collect Global Positioning System (GPS) data over eight professional soccer matches in the English Championship. Data were divided into whole-match and BiP data, and BiP data were further sub-divided into different time points (30-60 s, 60-90 s, and > 90 s) providing precise peak match demands. Whole-match demands recorded were compared to BiP and Max BiP, and BiP data excluded data from all match stoppages, providing a more precise analysis of match demands. Whole-match metrics were significantly lower than BiP metrics (p < 0.05), and Max BiP for 30-60 s was significantly higher than periods between 60-90 s and > 90 s. No significant differences were found between positions. Ball-in-play analysis allows an accurate representation of the game and physical demands imposed on professional soccer players. Through having a clearer understanding of maximum game demands in professional soccer, will enable practitioners to design highly specific training methods.

Actions (login required)

View Item

Statistics

DownloadsShow export options

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Activity Overview

6 month trend

47Downloads

6 month trend

121Hits

Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.