Rafael Ballester

Despite the growing interest in research on women’s football, few approaches have analysed the primary performance indicator in football, which is the goal. This study describes the goal scoring patterns and explores technical-tactical behaviours associated with the scorer location in the 2022...

This study explored the impact of different tactical formations (TFs) on positional team behaviors in youth soccer during small sided games (SSGs). Eighteen U19 players participated in 7-a-side SSGs including goalkeepers, alternating between 2-3-1 and 3-1-2 TFs against a consistent opponent in the 3-3 TF. Positional data were collected with WIMU PRO GPS devices (Hudl, USA) to assess collective offensive and defensive dimensions that included teams´ width, length, height, the stretch index, and the surface area. The Mann-Whitney U test revealed that teams employing a 2-3-1 TF in offensive play exhibited increased height (p < 0.001; ES = 0.206), width (p = 0.006; ES = 0.113), and the surface area (p = 0.023; ES = 0.093) compared to the 3-1-2 TF. Conversely, defending with a 2-3-1 TF increased team height (p < 0.001; ES = 0.287) while decreasing length (p < 0.001; ES = 0.189), the surface area (p = 0.005; ES = 0.161), and the stretch index (p < 0.001; ES = 0.183) compared to the 3-1-2 TF. When attacking against a 2-3-1 TF, the offensive team experienced reduced height (p = 0.007; ES = 0.116) but an increased surface area (p < 0.001; ES = 0.241), width (p < 0.001; ES = 0.378) and the stretch index (p < 0.001; ES = 0.326) compared to the 3-1-2 TF. Finally, defending against a 2-3-1 TF resulted in decreased team length (p < 0.001; ES = 0.205), the surface area (p < 0.001; ES = 0.271) and the stretch index (p < 0.001; ES = 0.205) compared to defending against a 3-1-2 TF. Thus, coaches should acknowledge the significant role of TFs in modulating positional behaviors during SSGs, with relevant pedagogical implications for designing effective training sessions.

This study aimed to explore the relevance of the relative age effect (RAE), maturity status and anthropometry, and their influence on coaches’ assessment of players’ performance, analyzing both genders and different types of academies (elite vs. non-elite). The sample included 603 soccer players (385 male), from the under 12 (U12), under 14 (U14) and under 16 (U16) categories, belonging to elite and nonelite teams. Coaches’ assessment of players’ performance, chronological age, anthropometric characteristics, maturity offset (MO) and peak height velocity (PHV) were registered. Our results showed that RAE was present in both genders within the elite, but not in the nonelite academies. Early maturity players were overrepresented in the male elite, but not in the female academies. No relationship was found between RAE and anthropometry in male elite academies. Male elite players showed better anthropometric characteristics than nonelite players, while this pattern of results was not found for female players. The coaches’ assessment on players’ current performance was not influenced by the chronological age nor anthropometry, but it was linked to the PHV. Coaches from nonelite academies rated better in current assessment of performance the taller players. Our findings suggest that maturity status and RAE play an independent and important role in the talent selection process.

Sanz, A, Pablos, C, Ballester, R, Sanchez-Alarcos, JV, and Huertas, F. Range of motion and injury occurrence in elite Spanish soccer academies. Not only a hamstring shortening—related problem. J Strength Cond Res 34(7): 1924–1932, 2020—Age-related development of range of motion (ROM) during an active hip flexion (active straight leg raise) and its relationship with hamstring injury occurrence were examined in 1657 young male soccer players (9–18 years of age). Age-related differences in ROM showed a significant decrease from U9 to U11 (p = 0.001), from U11 to U13 (p < 0.005), and from U9 to U13 (p < 0.001), whereas ROM increased from U13 to U15 and from U13 to U18 (both p's < 0.001). Interestingly, younger and older players reached similar ROM values (U9–U18, p = 0.87). Higher ROM was found in dominant than nondominant leg in all age groups (all ps < 0.001). No differences related to playing position were found on ROM (all ps > 0.478). During the follow-up period (11 months) 97 hamstring injuries were reported showing higher rates in the older age groups (p < 0.001) and outfield players (p < 0.001). Remarkably, no differences in ROM average were found between injured players and noninjured players (p = 0.152). Our results suggest that ROM during hip flexion does not only depend on the hamstrings shortening but also on the variables related to joint stability, motor control, and hip flexor muscle weakness. Sport scientists in youth sport soccer academies should develop age-specific screening and action plans to develop strength, motor control, and flexibility to optimize ROM and reduce injuries from the grassroots stages.

The main purpose of this study was to explore the association between the regular practice of open-skill sports (i.e., soccer) and executive control, along with other attentional functions (i.e., alerting and orienting) during preadolescence. The study was conducted on 131 participants (70 non-athletes and 61 soccer players). To measure cognitive performance, participants performed the Attentional Network Test—Interactions (ANT-I) task. Compared to non-athletes, soccer players showed overall faster responses and better executive control (e.g., reduced interference from distractors). Overall, our results provide new empirical evidence supporting the positive association between regular sports practice and cognitive performance, and more specifically executive functions. However, is important to note that the relationship between regular sport practice and cognition is complex and multifactorial. Our findings can be partly explained by the “cardiovascular fitness hypothesis” and the “cognitive component skills approach,” suggesting that an externally paced sport environment with high physical fitness and perceptual–cognitive demands may be an appropriate setting to optimize the development of cognitive functioning during early adolescence.

The need to achieve short-term competitive outcomes in sports may influence the emergence of talent selection strategies, which could bias individuals’ opportunities. The present study aimed to further explore the relative age effect (RAE), a phenomenon that strongly influences youth sport development. The RAE refers to a disproportionately high percentage in sport teams of athletes born early in the selection year. Our primary focus was to explore whether the RAE is supported by behavioral evidence in favor of better fitness—and especially cognitive-attentional functioning—of early as compared to late-born players. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 young athletes (u10, n = 52; 9.8 ± 0.3 years old, and u12, n = 53; 11.8 ± 0.2 years old) attending two youth elite soccer academies. Attentional functioning, anthropometrics, physical fitness, and game intelligence were compared across two Age Groups (u10 vs. u12) and four Birth Quarters (BQ1–BQ4). The RAE was statistically significant (p < 0.001), showing that about 50% of participants were born in the first quarter and 75% were born in the first half of the year. More importantly, U12 players outperformed u10 players in measures that were related to sustained attention (with faster and less variable responses; p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively), and in all anthropometric measures (p < 0.001), physical-fitness capacities (p < 0.05). Crucially, neither the attentional measures, game intelligence, anthropometrics, nor physical fitness were affected by BQ (all ps > 0.1 and BF₁₀ between 0.08 and 0.6, showing strong evidence for the null hypothesis). The present findings suggest that the early selection process that occurs during scouting in youth soccer academies offsets the age-related differences that could be anticipated in cognitive skills, anthropometrics, and physical abilities, due to growth and maturation. These birth asymmetries could lead teams to disregard later maturation athletes and athletes born later in the year inducing a larger dropout of those players with the consequent reduction in the talent pool.

A substantial body of work has depicted a positive association between physical exercise and cognition, although the key factors driving that link are still a matter of scientific debate. Here, we aimed to contribute further to that topic by pooling the data from seven studies (N = 361) conducted by our research group to examine whether cardiovascular fitness (VO₂), sport type participation (externally-paced (e.g., football or basketball) and self-paced (e.g., triathlon or track and field athletes) vs. sedentary), or both, are crucial factors to explain the association between the regular practice of exercise and vigilance capacity. We controlled for relevant variables such as age and the method of VO₂ estimation. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task was used to measure vigilance performance by means of reaction time (RT). The results showed that externally-paced sport practice (e.g., football) resulted in significantly shorter RT compared to self-paced sport (e.g., triathlon) and sedentary condition, depicting larger effects in children and adolescents than in adults. Further analyses revealed no significant effect of cardiovascular fitness and self-paced sport practice, in comparison to the sedentary condition, on RT. Our data point to the relevance of considering the type of sport practice over and above the level of cardiovascular fitness as crucial factor to explain the positive association between the regular practice of exercise and vigilance capacity.

The present study investigated the role of chronic sport participation in the modulation of vigilance and inhibitory control. We also aimed to disentangle the relative contribution of different types of sport expertise and sport‐related fitness to the exercise‐cognition relationship. Three groups of young adults differing in their chronic sport expertise (externally‐paced sports, n = 22, self‐paced sports, n = 22, non‐athletes, n = 22) took part in the study. Participants completed a cardiovascular fitness test, a hand‐eye coordination test and two different types of vigilance tasks: (1) Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) and (2) Oddball Task, which were designed to gain insight into the cognitive processes involved in sustaining attention over time and allocating selective attention by exerting inhibitory control, respectively. No differences were found in PVT performance between the two athlete groups and between self‐paced sports athletes and non‐athletes, whereas athletes from externally‐paced sports outperformed non‐athletes. Crucially, athletes from externally‐paced sports also differed from those of self‐paced sports and non‐athletes in the Oddball task, showing less omission and commission errors. The sport expertise effect was independent of participant's cardiovascular fitness while hand‐eye coordination modulated vigilance and inhibitory control performance. Our findings add novel empirical evidence to the role of expertise in cognitively demanding sports as an important factor in the relationship between exercise and cognition.

We compared coincidence-anticipation performance in normal vision and stroboscopic vision as a function of time-on-task. Participants estimated the arrival time of a real object that moved with constant acceleration (−0.7, 0, +0.7 m/s²) in a pseudo-randomised order across 4 blocks of 30 trials in both vision conditions, received in a counter-balanced order. Participants (n = 20) became more errorful (accuracy and variability) in the normal vision condition as a function of time-on-task, whereas performance was maintained in the stroboscopic vision condition. We interpret these data as showing that participants failed to maintain coincidence-anticipation performance in the normal vision condition due to monotony and attentional underload. In contrast, the stroboscopic vision condition placed a greater demand on visual-spatial memory for motion extrapolation, and thus participants did not experience the typical vigilance decrement in performance. While short-term adaptation effects from practicing in stroboscopic vision are promising, future work needs to consider for how long participants can maintain effortful processing, and whether there are negative carry-over effects from cognitive fatigue when transferring to normal vision.