Pitch Size and Game Surface in Different Small-Sided Games. Global Indicators, Activity Profile, and Acceleration of Female Soccer Players

Jorge López Fernández ; Leonor Gallardo Guerrero ; Álvaro Fernández Luna ; Victor Villacanas ^[1] ; Jorge García Unanue ; Javier Sánchez Sánchez
1. [1] Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
  
  Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
  
  Ciudad Real, España
Localización: Journal of strength and conditioning research: the research journal of the NSCA, ISSN 1064-8011, Vol. 33, Nº. 3, 2019, págs. 831-838
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- The aim of this research was to evaluate the influence of game surface and pitch size on the movement profile in female soccer players during small-sided games (SSGs) of 4 v 4. Sixteen women played 3 different 4-a-side (400, 600, and 800 m2) on 3 surfaces (ground [GR], artificial turf [AT], and natural grass [NG]). Time-motion variables were assessed through GPS devices (Spi Pro X, GPSports, Australia). Ground had the worst outputs on most variables. NG achieved higher results than AT in terms of total distance (SSG 400 [+37.000 m; p = 0.006]; SSG 600 [+59.989 m; p < 0.001]; and SSG 800 [+42.284 m; p = 0.001]). However, the smaller SSG (400) had the lowest values on most variables. However, although the middle SSG (600) presented higher output than the bigger one (800) for body load (NG [+7.745 a.u.; p < 0.001]; AT [+8.207 a.u.; p < 0.001]; and GR [+5.879 a.u.; p < 0.001]), it had lower results for high-intensity distance (NG [-13.15 m; p = 0.025] and AT [-13.59 m; p = 0.026]). Despite women's performance being higher on AT than GR, the NG surface still showed the highest outcomes in the most intense SSG. Moreover, although the performance increases in bigger pitches, if the size is too large the outputs could be reduced.