Does sprint and jump performance of football players from a Premier League academy change throughout the season?

• Published in: Sport sciences for health Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 427 - 434
• Main Authors: Meira, Felipe Coimbra, Franke, Rodrigo de Azevedo, da Costa, Diogo Leite, Nakamura, Fabio Yuzo, Baroni, Bruno Manfredini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milan Springer Milan 01.06.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Football; Human Physiology; Jumping; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Physical fitness; Professional soccer; Sports Medicine; Italy; Physical fitness; Athletes; Athletic performance; Soccer
• ISSN: 1824-7490; 1825-1234
• DOI: 10.1007/s11332-023-01112-5

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the sprint and jump performance throughout the season in young male players aged 13–18 years from a Premier League football (soccer) academy. Methods Participants were engaged in a 6-day weekly football training routine. Plyometric and sprint exercises were embedded in training sessions but did not follow a systematized program. Performance on 10-m and 30-m sprints, vertical and horizontal jumps were assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of competitive calendar along two consecutive seasons. This retrospective longitudinal study analyzed 94 players from under-14 to under-19 teams (56 players in both seasons and 38 in a single season; i.e., 150 player-seasons). Results Players had significant performance improvements along the season: 10-m sprint [ p  < 0.001, delta =  − 0.06 s (− 2.93%), effect size (ES) = 0.60], 30-m sprint [ p  < 0.001, delta =  − 0.11 s (− 2.46%), ES = 0.54], vertical jump [ p  = 0.005, delta = 1.84 cm (5.45%), ES = 0.37], and horizontal jump [ p  = 0.005, delta = 6.48 cm (2.86%), ES = 0.37]. Individual analyses on age categories denoted that significant performance improvements mostly occurred in under-14, under-15, and under-16 teams. Under-18 and under-19 teams had no significant increases in any performance test, while under-17 team had an increase only in the 30-m sprint test. Conclusion Regular football training routine (without systematized plyometric or sprint training) was able to enhance sprint and jump performance of footballers from under-14 to under-16 teams, but this training regime was insufficient to improve such abilities of older players (under-17 to under-19 teams).