Game Running Performance and Fitness in Women’s Futsal

The Most Demanding Exercise in Different Training Tasks in Professional Female Futsal: A Mid-Season Study through Principal Component Analysis

The contextual factors related to training tasks can play an important role in how a player performs and, subsequently, in how a player trains to face a competition. To date, there has been no study that has investigated the most demanding exercise in different training tasks in female futsal. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the most demanding efforts during different training tasks in a cohort study conducted in professional biological women futsal players using principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 14 elite women futsal players (age = 24.34 ± 4.51 years; height = 1.65 ± 0.60 m; body mass = 63.20 ± 5.65 kg) participated in this study. Seventy training sessions of an elite professional women’s team were registered over five months (pre-season and in-season). Different types of exercises were grouped into six clusters: preventive exercises; analytical situations; exercises in midcourt; exercises in ¾ of the court; exercises in full court; superiorities/inferiorities. Each exercise cluster was composed of 5–7 principal components (PCs), considering from 1 to 5 main variables forming each, explaining from 65 to 75% of the physical total variance. A total of 13–19 sub-variables explained the players’ efforts in each training task group. The first PCs to explain the total variance of training load were as follows: preventive exercises (accelerations; ~31%); analytical situations (impacts; ~23%); exercises in midcourt (high-intensity efforts; ~28%); exercises in ¾ of the court (~27%) and superiorities/inferiorities (~26%) (aerobic/anaerobic components); exercises in full court (anaerobic efforts; ~24%). The PCs extracted from each exercise cluster provide evidence that may assist researchers and coaches during training load monitoring. The descriptive values of the training load support a scientific base to assist coaches in the planning of training schedules.

Lateral Preference and Inter-limb Asymmetry in Completing Technical Tasks During Official Professional Futsal Matches: The Role of Playing Position and Opponent Quality

This study had the purpose of analyzing dominant and non-dominant limb performances (frequency of use and accuracy) during match-play technical actions with ball possession (receiving, passing, and shooting a ball) in professional futsal and also check for the possible influence of playing position and the quality of opponent. We have analyzed data pertaining to eight matches of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012™ in which 76 male professional senior futsal players participated (44 right-footed and 32 left-footed). In total, we coded 5,856 actions (2,550 ball receptions, 3,076 passes, and 230 shoots). Our main findings were that (a) players used the dominant limb more frequently than the non-dominant limb for all actions considered [p < 0.001; effect size (ES) medium-to-large]; (b) accuracy was generally greater when using the dominant limb, regardless of the quality of opponent (p < 0.01; ES large); and (c) in shooting actions, pivots showed similar accuracy between dominant and non-dominant limbs (p = 0.51; ES small). The study suggested that when completing technical actions with the ball in futsal, high-level players depended to a greater extent on the use of their dominant lower limb during official matches. Excepting a similarity detected between limbs on shooting performance of pivots, players from all positional roles generally showed a higher accuracy rate in receiving, passing, and shooting a ball when using their dominant limb as compared to their non-dominant one during match-play and the limb usage and accuracy seemed to be independent of the quality of opponents.

Analysis of key external and internal load variables in professional female futsal players: a longitudinal study

The aims of this study were to identify the key external and internal load variables in professional futsal through principal components analysis (PCA), and analyse the physical performance required by the players in official matches. Data were collected from 14 female players during 10 matches using WIMU PRO^TM. The PCA selected a total of 22 variables as key indicators of players' load. Specifically, these variables were represented by five principal components. However, a novel finding was that different components were extracted when the analysis was carried out by full match (68.83% of total variance), first half (69.81% of total variance), or second half (65.96% of total variance). Also, this study found that the players decreased their physical performance during the second half. Based on these results, this study may help optimize performance and reduce the injury risk. Performance should not be only analysed considering the full match external/internal load but also specifying by match halves. This is explained by the fact that there were variables that made up the principal components in the first half, but not in the second half or full match. Finally, coaches should adopt training strategies which deal with the decrease in physical performance during the second half.

Relationships between Fitness Status and Match Running Performance in Adult Women Soccer Players: A Cohort Study

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to analyze the relationships between fitness status (repeated-sprint ability (RSA), aerobic performance, vertical height jump, and hip adductor and abductor strength) and match running performance in adult women soccer players and (ii) to explain variations in standardized total distance, HSR, and sprinting distances based on players' fitness status. Materials and Methods: The study followed a cohort design. Twenty-two Portuguese women soccer players competing at the first-league level were monitored for 22 weeks. These players were tested three times during the cohort period. The measured parameters included isometric strength (hip adductor and abductor), vertical jump (squat and countermovement jump), linear sprint (10 and 30 m), change-of-direction (COD), repeated sprints (6 × 35 m), and intermittent endurance (Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1). Data were also collected for several match running performance indicators (total distance covered and distance at different speed zones, accelerations/decelerations, maximum sprinting speed, and number of sprints) in 10 matches during the cohort. Results: Maximal linear sprint bouts presented large to very large correlations with explosive match-play actions (accelerations, decelerations, and sprint occurrences; r = -0.80 to -0.61). In addition, jump modalities and COD ability significantly predicted, respectively, in-game high-intensity accelerations (r = 0.69 to 0.75; R2 = 25%) and decelerations (r = -0.78 to -0.50; R2 = 23-24%). Furthermore, COD had significant explanatory power related to match running performance variance regardless of whether the testing and match performance outcomes were computed a few or several days apart. Conclusion: The present investigation can help conditioning professionals working with senior women soccer players to prescribe effective fitness tests to improve their forecasts of locomotor performance.

Characterization of Reproductive and Morphological Variables in Female Elite Futsal Players

We aimed to characterize the age of onset of training, age at menarche, menstrual periodicity, and performance perception during the menstrual cycle and examined the impact of these reproductive variables on body composition, morphology, and body weight satisfaction in Brazilian elite futsal players. The study consisted of 115 female Brazilian elite futsal players from the top national teams. Data were collected during the twentieth Women's Brazil Futsal Cup. Players were interviewed and self-reported their age of onset of training, age at menarche, menstrual periodicity, and the menstrual period, where they performed best. We also asked for what they considered to be their ideal body weight as well as information related to their training (i.e., volume and frequency). Subsequently, anthropometric measurements (i.e., body mass, height, circumferences, diameters, and skinfold thickness) were performed to estimate the body composition and determine morphological characteristics (e.g., somatotype). Fifty-nine (53.2%) players were postmenarche-trained and 52 (46.8%) were premenarche-trained. Eighteen (16.2%), 65 (58.6%), and 28 (25.2%) were classified as early, normal, and late menarche, respectively. Only 11 (9.6%) and 1 (0.9%) had irregular menstrual cycles and were amenorrheic, respectively. Seventy-three (69.5%), 23 (21.9%), and 9 (8.6%) reported that their game performance was the best at the follicular phase, menses, and luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, respectively. No associations between the four reproductive-related variables were found. Postmenarche-trained players had significant lower age at menarche and higher percentage body fat. The somatotype profile registered lower ectomorphy rate for the postmenarche-trained participants after controlling for covariates. Early menarche group presented higher sum of six skinfold thickness and endomorphy rate compared to normal and late menarche groups. No differences were found when menstrual periodicity groups and best performance groups were compared, except for higher femur width in the regular menstrual cycle group compared to the irregular one. The association between body weight satisfaction and the four reproductive-related variables were not observed. Premenarche-trained Brazilian elite futsal players had the menarche later than the postmenarche-trained athletes. Most of the participants had menarche age classified as "normal," presented "regular" menstrual cycles and perceived to perform better during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.