(32) THE IMPACT OF SPEED AND CHANGE OF DIRECTION ABILITY ON PLAYING TIME IN NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S SOCCER

Women’s soccer is a multi-directional sport, with various positions associated with a specific set of tasks.  Success in nearly every position in this sport requires the ability to achieve high velocity in sprinting and  change of direction.  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in sprinting and change of direction abilities among positions and skill levels in collegiate varsity soccer players. 

Subjects:  Subjects were 16 current student athletes on a university varsity soccer team (n=16, hheight= 1.67± 0.07m, age=19.19± 1.05 years, body mass=64.97±8.15kg).

Methods: Times for two 30m sprints performed from a two-point stance, were assessed using timing gates. An initial trigger gate was used to start the sprint with additional gates placed at 5m, 10m, 20m, and 30m.  Two 505 tests were performed for each direction. An initial start line was used to allow subjects 10 meters to accelerate to maximal speed before they crossed  al trigger gate.  The subjects then sprinted 5m, touching or crossing a line with their foot before performing a 180° turn and sprinting back through the initial timing gate. 

Results:   Although no significant differences were seen by position or playing time, effect sizes for differences between starters and non-starters did show notable differences (see accompanying table.

Discussion:   The lack of statistically significant differences between groups determined by playing time or position for any variable, may be attributable to the small sample size.  However, the importance of  speed to player performance, as indicated by velocity max speed, and 30m time, is evidenced by the large between group effect sizes (D >.91). In the relevant soccer literature, sprint speed was the major variable differentiating player quality.  Interestingly, while no study has examined change of direction times as indicators of players’ skill levels.  While statistical significance was not achieved, the large effect sizes indicated the importance of sprint and change of direction speeds in defining the skill levels of women’s soccer players.

Practical Application:  Sprint speed is very important to the skill level of soccer players and should be emphasized in training.  

 

Acknowledgements: None