Acute pre- and post-competitive soccer match-play changes in neuromuscular factors, physical performance, and muscle response in youth male players

ABSTRACT

There is a paucity of literature analyzing the impact of fatigue from actual competitive soccer match-play on measures of neuromuscular function and muscle damage markers in youth players. Aims The main purpose was to analyze the acute pre- and post-competitive soccer match-play changes in measures of landing mechanics, stretch-shortening cycle capability, physical performance, muscle damage, and match intensity. A secondary purpose was to explore whether the players’ maturity status and chronological age were associated with post-soccer match-play responses. Methods Thirty-two male youth outfield soccer players from two chronological competition age groups (U14 and U16) were assessed pre-and post-competitive soccer match-play for 2D dynamic knee valgus at landing (DKV), leg stiffness, reactive strength index, 20 m sprint time, CMJ-Abalakov jump height, creatine kinase and urea activity and visual analogue scale for muscle soreness (VAS). Players’ maturity status was also estimated using a previously validated regression equation. Results There were statistically significant (p < 0.05) post-competitive soccer match-play impairments in all measures of stretch-shortening cycle capability and muscle damage markers assessed irrespective of the age group. Likewise, significant post-match play alterations in landing mechanics (DKV of the dominant leg) and physical performance (sprint time and jump height) scores were documented for the U14 players. Significant interactions between maturity and landing mechanics and VAS responses to competitive soccer match-play were also found whereby more mature players demonstrated larger post-match changes. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest the existence of a negative influence of competitive match-play on neuromuscular function and muscle damage in youth soccer.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• football
• fatigue
• maturation
• team sports

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to all players and staff of the team considered in the study for their support and cooperation throughout data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization – Imanol Martin-Garetxana, Jonathan Hughes, José A. Lekue.

Data curation – All the authors.

Formal analysis – Francisco Ayala, Mark De Ste Croix.

Methodology – Mark De Ste Croix, Jon Larruskain, Imanol Martin-Garetxana.

Project administration – Imanol Martin-Garetxana, Jon Larruskain.

Writing original draft – Francisco Ayala, Jonathan Hughes, Mark De Ste Croix.

Writing review and editing – All the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, FA, upon reasonable request.

Ethics approval and informed consent

The University of Murcia’s Ethics Committee approved the study (ID: 1551/2017) that conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki regarding the use of human subjects. Before any participation, experimental procedures and potential risks were fully explained to both parents and children in verbal and written form. Written informed consent to the testing procedures and the use of the data for further research was obtained from the parents and children.

Additional information

Funding

Francisco Ayala was supported by a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral fellowship [RYC2019-028383-I] given by the spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This study is part of the project entitled “Women´s soccer matters: a field-based approach to profiling injury risk using novel artificial intelligence techniques [PID2020-115886RB-I00]”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The funders had no role in study design, data analysis, interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.