Physical Development Differences between Professional Soccer Players from Different Competitive Levels

• Autor(a) principal: França, Cíntia
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Ihle, Andreas, Marques, Adilson, Sarmento, Hugo, Martins, Francisco, Henriques, Ricardo, Gouveia, Élvio Rúbio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/5182
• topic: Strength; Balance; Flexibility; Body composition; Elite; .; Faculdade de Ciências Sociais

: In soccer, physical development is crucial for developing optimal performance. This study aimed to assess and compare the physical development of elite and non-elite professional soccer players. Seventy-eight male professional football players divided into four competitive levels par ticipated in this study: the elite group (EG), the non-elite group A (NEG-A), the non-elite group B (NEG-B), and the under 23 group (U23). Body composition, static strength, lower-body explosive strength, flexibility, and balance were assessed. No significant statistical differences between elite and non-elite players were seen in body composition parameters. However, the EG performed better in static strength, lower-body explosive strength, flexibility, and balance, even after adjusting for the effects of chronological age. The analysis showed that the competitive level (group) explained 25% to 29% of the variance observed in the lower-body explosive strength tasks. Sports staff and coaches in different age categories or competitive levels should include specific lower-body explosive strength content during soccer training to promote players’ long-term development towards the elite level.