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Allometric scaling and age-related differences in change of direction speed performances of young soccer players
Negra, Y. Chaabène, Helmi Ben Hammami, M. Khlifa, Riadh Gabbett, Tim Hachana, Y.
Negra, Y.
Chaabène, Helmi Ben
Hammami, M.
Khlifa, Riadh
Gabbett, Tim
Hachana, Y.
Abstract
Purpose: The purposes of this study were to compare change of direction speed (CODS) performances between different age categories (i.e., U-10, U-12, U-13, and U-18) and to develop allometric exponents for scaling this quality. Material and method: Data were gathered with the participation of 101 male soccer players (mean ± SD; age = 12.5 ± 2.9 years, mass = 44.4 ± 14.7 kg, height = 149.3 ± 17.7 cm, and leg length = 75.7 ± 13.1 cm). All players performed the Illinois change of direction speed test (ICDST). Results: U-18 players achieved significantly better results in ICDST compared with the other groups, whereas U-10 players had the lowest performances (F = 48.78, P < 0.0001). In regards to U-12 and U-13 soccer players, no significant differences were established between them (P > 0.05). The ICDST performances were significantly associated with body mass (r = −0.58; P < 0.0001), height (r = −0.75; P < 0.0001) and leg length (r = −0.75; P < 0.0001). No correlations between allometrically scaled ICDST performance and anthropometric measures were observed (all P > 0.05), indicating the effectiveness of allometric exponents in partialing out the effect of anthropometric measures on ICDST's compared to ratio scaling. Conclusion: Results indicated differences in CODS performance among soccer players of different age categories. These results demonstrated that developing allometric exponents are effective in controlling for anthropometric measures.
Keywords
change of direction speed, body size, allometric scaling
Date
2016
Type
Journal article
Journal
Science and Sports
Book
Volume
31
Issue
2
Page Range
e19-e26
Article Number
ACU Department
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Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled