Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 6.

And we have arrived to this point, the end of 2012 and the start of the 2013 ...
Here you are the last video of this issue, in which I show you a simple analysis of the comparison of acceleration data demonstrated during simple and analytic maximum sprints (30 to 60m dash), measured with GPS system (Pro X2, GPSports, Australia), and some repetitions performed by the same player of a first maximum step with less than 3m, measured by a linear encoder (from Quasar Control, Madrid, Spain). In this comparison, you will see acceleration data from different systems, in order to better understand the mechanics of the sprint, from the first step (so the less expression similar to the maximum possibilities for sprinting in smaller spaces, to the longer ones (typical 60m or so).

And after this, logically the conclusion ... But ATTENTION!!! Remember the limits of all this information, specially important those related with the characteristics of the analysis: here we have analyzed JUST the acceleration phases but, what happens with DECELERATION phases?

This info will need much more time because software are not ready to deepen in deceleration data, and needs to be exported to Excel, so I have to develop and apply the algorithms, and believe me, for me, at this moment, is really a hard work and too much time spent.

Enjoy,

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 5.

Hope you have had a really nice and loving Christmas day.
Not planned like this, but as a gift of Santa, today it arrives the moment of visualize the acceleration data demonstrated by professional soccer players of a Spanish first division team. This data was recollected during a season (2007-2008) in all sessions where the same tasks where performed (in this case are small sided soccer games with 1 versus 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3, and 4 v 4, all played with goalkeepers and standard goals.
The variable analyzed are basically two: the average of all the accelerations over 1 m/s/s demonstrated by each player participating in the task, and the average for all players of just the maximum acceleration demonstrated during the task (so just one maximum acceleration for each player for each task).
Also we include the average number of "maximal" accelerations per minute of play (during the task) per player. This is another important issue to understand: maximal absolute value of acceleration depends on the initial velocity ... we will deepen in it in the future. But at this moment you must know that we have applied this important aspect in the calculation of this variable.

Enjoy, and stay tuned!!!

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 4.

After the last post it's time to remember again one of the limits of this analysis, and it's an important limit (that we try to resolve in future posts ...): now we are paying attention just to acceleration phases during the specific tasks, but not yet to the deceleration phases!!!
So it will be very important to keep this in mind.
Directly related with this, is the relationship between acceleration and deceleration phases of any tasks with the "metabolic or energetic" load, and also with "mechanic" load. But this issue will be better developed in later posts.

In today video, we will add some insight about the relationship between triaxial acceleration demonstration and the GPS acceleration data of "maximum" sprints. This simple study was done some years ago, with data collected from training sessions of some professional spanish soccer players of a first division spanish "La Liga" club.
Following similar studies done with the relationship between horizontal force applied and speed demonstrated, this data corroborates previous one, but specifically obtained on the pitch and during specific training tasks, and directly related with acceleration of a sprint.

Enjoy, and merry Christmas!!!

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 3.

After seeing the relationship between the acceleration and deceleration phases of a near maximum sprint with hard change of direction (180º), and how it affects to the metabolic power (Di Prampero approach) and mechanic power (Bezodis approach), now is time to go one step forward.
In order to try to clarify this relationship between acceleration and deceleration phases of similar actions, I propose you this simple analysis in which we compare the impulse phase (acceleration) of a typical squat jump (just body weight, without extra load) with the braking phase (deceleration) of a traditional drop jump from 40 cm, as Verkhoshansky originally proposed it (fall down from a height and stop the movement as fast as possible, with no jump after). Both jumps has been performed by the same soccer player with maximum intensity (trying to jump as high as possible in an explosive movement, and to brake as fast as possible the falling down).
The intention is to try to show the typical characteristics of the relationship between maximal acceleration and maximal deceleration in a simple movement.

Enjoy, and stay tuned!!!

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 2.

In this second part, I will show you some data of the speed, acceleration, and also metabolic power (based on Di Prampero approach) and horizontal mechanical power (based on Bezodis proposal) demonstrated by a soccer player in a simple and analytic exercise of a 5+5+16+16m changing direction sprint, with some comments about their relationship.

Enjoy,

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: part 1.

After the introduction, we continue with this very interesting issue, in which after some more basic general data, you will see a first analysis of an ... better you see it!

Enjoy!

Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?: Intro

As commented in the last post, I have prepared a presentation about the issue of the development of the specific explosive force using small soccer sided games with just few players participating.
I think this is one of the usual mistakes we do when talking about specificity of the tasks for the development of the specific explosiveness: to interpret that as we are using less space (pitch dimension), we have less time to act, so less time means more explosiveness ... then small sided games with few players are the correct task for developing specific explosive strength. In fact this is clear for the decision making, but what happens with the force demonstration (as we are talking about explosive strength)?

On one side, we need the quality of the stimulus specifically oriented towards the explosiveness, and on the other side, we need the correct quantity of this stimulus, in order to be able to cause a change in the desired direction.

So lets start with this very interesting issue, in order to clarify not only the concept, but also to establish the correct basis for being able to progress in our understanding of how to modify and optimize our training methodology.

Enjoy,

Effects of an "extra" contralateral mechanical load and its detection, based on triaxial accelerometer data.

This is going to be the last video related with the contralateral acceleration pattern (for the time being), and in I will explain a recent personal situation in which I was acting as a player during a training session of the amateur soccer team of my city, FC Cambrils (Tarragona, Spain). During this session, we have done some traditional warm up based just on running (no comments at all, please), and then we have combined some possession game (6+6)x6 with some physical-technique circuit in which we have used some extra lateral side cutting step (so a lot of lateral and diagonal decelerations).

During the last part of the session and also later at home, and next morning, I have been feeling some "little pain" that I thought was caused by this "extra lateral load", so when analyzing the GPS data of this session I have going directly to see if it was any sign or possible relationship with A3X data, specially on the contralateral axis (you will see it in red color).

Here it is what I have seen. ¿What do you think about?

Moreover, and after some interesting debate with some colleagues (in a conference in Vigo that coach Victor Muñoz and myself have been doing two days ago) and friends also working in different soccer teams here in Spain and also abroad, and also after reading some positioning about the issue, I have prepare the next videos for the blog in which the title (so the issue) will be:
"Explosive specific force trough small sided games and few players?"

Stay tuned!!!

Detecting functional contralateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: hamstrings overload and knee pain.

We are going to see today more data from a veteran amateur player suffering from hamstrings overload (so feeling pain on the proximal insertion of his hamstrings) and also with some more pain on his knee (in this case coming from some articular problems).

After starting this issue on the last posts, I have receive quite a lot of questions about it. As I did advice then, the only thing I'm showing is just that in the cases in which I have been able to detect any short of contralateral functional deficit, there are also some relationship with different short of injuries or pain. But when colleagues and friends ask me if I'm able to detect possible future injuries, the answer is clear: NO.
But with some more time and more data, I'll try to analyze the possible relationship between triaxial accelerometer data and injury prevention. I'll keep you informed.

Enjoy,

Detecting functional contralateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: chronic groin injury.

This another example from an amateur spanish soccer player from FC Cambrils (Tarragona), in which after an standard training session and the corresponding analysis, we have detected some contralateral functional deficit in the acceleration (force) pattern on different axes, but specially in the contralateral one. After detecting it, I have ask the player if he was suffering any special problem, injury or whatever, and the answer has been that after some months, he is suffering from a chronic groin injury.

Hope you enjoy,

Detecting functional bilateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: chronic patellar tendon pain.

Today you can see some data related with the detection of a functional bilateral deficit in acceleration pattern in an amateur spanish soccer player who is suffering from a chronic patellar tendon pain. In this case, this deficit is detected during the execution of a typical finishing task, in which the player must do an sprint to win the ball and try to score goal.
Usually it is necessary to look in all three axis of the acceleration data, but then the deficit can be detected in one or more axis, in this case you will see it in the vertical axis during the propulsive phase.

Next post we will see some data of another player who is suffering from adductor chronic pain.
Enjoy and stay tuned,

Detecting functional bilateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: maximal speed (Part 3).

And here it comes the 3rd part of this issue.
As I have had so many requirements about this issue, After this post I will show you some more data in which you will see the detection of other functional bilateral deficits in acceleration, but this time associated with other sort of physical problems.

Enjoy and stay tuned!!!

Detecting functional bilateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: maximal speed (Part 2).

Wow! A lot of expectation about this issue, some friends and colleagues consults, and also some professional work offers from all around the world confirms my initial thinking that this could be a future trend topic issue for at least some professionals working on sport performance (not only soccer).

As these is going to be a long familiar weekend (so busy!!!) I just share with you this 2nd part of this issue in which you will see ... better you go for it.

Enjoy!

Detecting functional bilateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: maximal speed (Part 1).

As I supposed, it seems that this issue (and previous) has "wake up" the interest of lot of people around the world, not only in the net, and I'm getting so many invitations to explain and deepen on it in different forums (universities, federations and clubs, mainly), so just give me the chance to thank all of you for it.

And it arrives the moment, after a previous introduction of the issue, of sharing with you a series of videos where you will see how it is possible to detect (under specific circumstances) some functional differences between the acceleration demonstrated supposedly by each leg (IMPORTANT: remember the limits of the technology and methodology ...), and monitored by a GPS integrated system in some amateur and professional soccer players when training and competing.

I will start with an intro, and then with the first data related with some horizontal acceleration in the propulsive phase.

Hope you enjoy!

Detecting functional bilateral deficits in acceleration (force) pattern in soccer players: maximal speed (Intro).

After this long series of posts where we have analyze some data related to the collective metabolic power exertion of professional and amateur soccer players in training and competitions, it's time to go to another issue.

This lasts two months I have been talking with some friends and colleagues working in different professional soccer clubs in Spain and around world, and one issue that seems to be of some interests for more or less everybody is the prevention of injuries.

Also recently I have had the opportunity to assist to the 4th MuscleTech Network Whorkshop, celebrated in Barcelona by FC Barcelona, in where there have been presented some works related with this issue, and also where some of the bests world specialists in analyzing and preventing injuries have stated that actually there exists some doubts about the injury prevention methodologies, given that after implementing different protocols in top level european soccer clubs during the lasts 10 years, it seems that the  number of muscle injuries suffered in training and competition are more or less the same than in past years ...

Here we will analyze some acceleration data measured by the triaxial accelerometer that it's integrated in the GPS unit, given the direct relationship between acceleration and force applied. It's important to check that this short of analysis has it's own limits, as for example the relative position of the GPS unit (so the triaxial accelerometer position) with respect of the body of the player (usually not so close to the center of mass), and the ground (in some movements and some accelerations its not "perfectly" perpendicular to the ground, and what that implies ...).

And if we detect any functional bilateral deficit that doesn't means that a injury is going to happen!!! It is just showing us that something happens ... 

Therefore, all this means that we have to be careful when handling this information.

So what I have done is just to prepare some data acquired (with the use of a GPS system) some years ago in professional soccer players, and recently in amateur players, in order to show you how we can detect if it could exist any functional bilateral deficit in the pattern of acceleration of the body, when training or competing.

This GPS system units incorporate a triaxial accelerometer that can measure its acceleration in the 3 axis at 100 Hz.

What is important to know is that as with any technological system of measure, it has its own limitations that have to be known (but this is another issue, not for today).

In any case, it's of vital importance to understand that this is just experimental data, so the methodology of use must be developed (this is one of the issues I'm working on), and that at the end, the main problem falls (as always in soccer!!!) in the decision taking, that is, how to act when detecting this short of info.

So here I just want to show you that it is possible to identify some functional bilateral deficits using GPS integrated systems in soccer training and competition, under some specific situations.

Stay tuned for the next video!!!

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: recapitulation 2.

And here we go again ...!
The concept of intensity ... so many times confused by the concept of exertion, specially when talking in an intermittent environment.
A higher exertion can be experienced by the increase of one or more aspects of the intermittence:
- the intensity of the actions (basically closer to its maximum, and always related to speed, acceleration, metabolic power, mechanical power ...)
- the duration of the actions (clearly longer time maintaining a higher intensity during an action)
- the intensity of the periods of relative pause, that is, between one and the next action
- The duration of those pause periods between actions (key factor in specific training tasks and competition!!!)

With this in mind, we are now just checking out the collective exertion based on metabolic power, because during a game, and also when performing an specific training task (as small sided games and others ...), specially those more similar to games (so with more number of players participating), the conditional effectiveness depends not only in one or two physically generous players who always accept the challenge of giving to his partners all his physical power, but much more important depends on the collective physical exertion, which implies a balanced conditional demonstration between all the players of the same teammate.

This leads as to the point of having to differentiate between individual conditional demonstration, more related with the individual experience of fatigue and the possibilities of increasing the individual specific conditional level (this is the usual approach), and the collective conditional demonstration, that is much more related with the collective performance (so not only conditional performance but also how this conditional performance adapts to the collective tactical demands of the game or training task.

So we have seen the main characteristics of the phases of higher collective metabolic power exertion during games of professional and amateur soccer players, and also how this collective metabolic power exertions is demonstrated during some specific tasks performed during professional and amateur soccer training.

Once decided which specific task we want to propose to our players in order to develop any of the targets that can be acquired (technical, tactical - cognitive, conditional, volitive - emotive, socio affective, creative - expressive ...), and with the idea of getting them ready for the competition, we have to choose which is the better way (and usually there is not only one way ...), so the methodology to be applied in training.

In practical terms, maybe we want our players to be able to achieve one or more of this targets:
- demonstrate higher collective metabolic power exertion during the more stressful phases
- demonstrate longer phases of higher collective metabolic power exertion
- demonstrate more frequent phases of higher collective metabolic power exertion (so lees time between this more stressful phases)
- demonstrate higher collective metabolic power exertion during the lower stressful phases
As you see, we are just applying the intermittence concept to the collective exertion.

So at this point, we have to decide the characteristics of the task in order to achieve the target.
And one important characteristic to decide is the duration of the interval time of the task (of each repetition).
Basically there are two main approaches: the traditional one, that implies to use longer interval times or the more recent approach that implies to use shorter interval times ...
And now we have to remember what we have seen that happens when using some specific tasks in training, in comparison with what happens in competition.
In general, longer interval time leads to a lower collective metabolic power exertion average. Depending of the demands of each task (related with the number of players participating so how the individual player must perform conditionally during the task), we will also see a progressive decrement of the collective metabolic power exertion (for the more demanding tasks) or just more or less constant alternation of those more stressful phases.

But if we want to achieve the targets mentioned above, maybe is gonna be much more time saving to choose the more recent approach, that implies to use interval times adjusted to the capabilities of our team players to show a higher collective power exertion.
This approach becomes much more evident in those more stressful specific tasks, in which we want our players to be able to show a higher "exertion" based on higher intensity of the actions performed, on more frequent actions (less time between actions), longer actions if needed, and also more "active" low stressful phases (more intensity in the pauses between actions), and also when there is a clear conditional main target for a specific task.
In those other specific tasks, more related with longer number of players participating, so with a prevalence of a more "tactical" target, then we have to choose again:
- tactical development in specific high collective metabolic power exertion will need a shorter interval time duration (and of course to apply the proper characteristics of the task in order to be able to develop the wanted target! not only the interval duration time ...)
- tactical development in the specific conditions of the game should need more longer interval time duration, in which the collective metabolic power exertion will show a similar alternation pattern than that showed during games.

If not, what do you thing will happen if when you look for increasing the exertion (also the intensity of the actions) performed in a specific task, you propose longer interval time duration ...?
As we have seen, lower collective metabolic power exertion, less intensity of the actions, more time between actions ... so the opposite of the target wanted!!!

Remember, if you want intensity, then propose any task with the constraints that allow the players to demonstrate your target.

Hope this make you thing about our own methodology in order to improve it (if possible!!!).

Stay tuned!!!

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: recapitulation 1.

After so many posts in which we have share some specific data about this issue in different specific activities as games, tactical games, and small sided possession and soccer games of different number of players (professionals and amateur players) participating and different rules and field dimensions, is time of a little recapitulation.

The original idea of all this work is to be able to propose a different than traditional approach for the specific conditioning of soccer players.

This more traditional approach is based on the general assumption that for the development of the endurance concept, there is a way based on the interval time duration of each, in this case, specific task.

So a first point to take into account is that we want our players to have a better endurance ... but, what we understand for this term "endurance" when we refer to the specificity? and specially when we refer to the characteristics of the competition (games and also the fact of playing games in non-complete recovered situation?

A basic common idea is just to be able to maintain all along the duration of the game the demands that competitions could impose to the players.

Not here the problem.

After this common idea about endurance, then it arrives another "hurdle" to go over: how to develop this "endurance" ...

To big issues with so many curves to go through!!!

Let's come back to the start point: competition.

We have seen how our players demonstrate their collective metabolic power exertion in competition. We have seen some of the characteristics of this specific exertion, related to it's duration and intensity, so at first, we have a picture of the direction we have to follow in order to achieve the main target: be ready for competition. That will mean that we have to prepare our players specifically for being able to maintain their collective metabolic power exertion at least under similar characteristics that are demonstrated during games, but probably we should be ready to try to increase their collective specific conditioning performance to a further step, and that means that our players should be ready to demonstrate or higher values of collective metabolic power exertion intensity, or higher values of its duration, or much more difficult, both aspects at the same time.

And all this during the game, and during consecutive games ...

To keep focus, despite we are talking about "endurance", we cannot loose the view of the hole picture, and that means also that related always to specific conditioning, our players show an intermittent pattern of activity, in which they alternate actions and relative pauses (so different levels of intensity and duration).

But about this actions, we surely want the players to be ready to perform them more intense and longer and more frequent ... really difficult, but this is the "idea" ...

So we want them to keep intensity both with exertion, and this is not so easy to do but also not easy to train specifically, because that requires using specific tasks with some characteristics that allows the players to demonstrate exactly this: higher intensity (not only exertion!!! That's a common mistake).

And here is where the evidence of the data recollected in professional and amateur soccer players, and shared with you, should make you reconsider if we are going to the correct direction ...

Stay tuned!

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Possession game 5x5 (part 5).
And here you are with the last part of this issue, in which you can see the collective metabolic power exertion showed by the members of each of the two teams that have participated in this part of a spanish professional soccer training session.
Hope you enjoy it,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Possession game 5x5 (part 4).
As you are seeing in this series, when we analyze the collective metabolic power exertion in a specific task as this, possession game 5 against 5, despite tha values demonstrated by the collective, we have to pay attention also to the values showed by each player, in order to individualize the stimulus of each task to each player, because you will always find some significant differences ... but this is another issue, not for today.
For today we introduce more relevant data on related with the collective metabolic power demonstration of each team participating in the same task, so the idea is to show you how each team show his collective metabolic power exertion. As you can appreciate on the graphics of this type of specific soccer tasks, collectively there are just a few differences between the team who possess the ball and the team who are trying to recover it, but who's who? ...
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Possession game 5x5 (part 2 and 3).
Today no words at all, just more video with continued information related to the last post.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Possession game 5x5 (intro and part 1).
Are you ready for more?
I hope you are, because today I start to share with you some more data based on the collective metabolic power concept applied to the analysis of a typical possession game 5 against 5 players, performed by a professional first division spanish soccer team, during an in season competition week, as the last part of a wednesday session (official games on sunday).
As explained in the video, there are two pitches in where 20 players are divided in 4 teams of 5 players each, and they compete all against all during 3 sets of around 4 minutes.
The size of the pitches are 30x30m during the first set, 30x40m during the second set, and finally 30x50m during the third set, and the basic rules are: maximum 2 touches of the ball consecutively by the same player, and a team score goal after ten consecutive passes by the same team players.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Small sided soccer game 3x3 (part 3 and 4).
In this two videos, you will see how is affecting fatigue (so we suppose that fatigue appears when performing this specific task in this way, that is, 3 sets of around 5 minutes with 1' - 1'30" minutes of pause between, specially when is the last part of a hard session ...) to the collective metabolic power exertion of this professional spanish soccer players.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Small sided soccer game 3x3 (part 1 and 2).
Before going further with some specific tasks analysis based on the collective metabolic power exertion, I want  to deepen in a typical specific task, that is a small sided soccer game 3 against 3 players with a goalkeeper and a standard goal for each team, but in this occasion, we will look at the metabolic power exertion of all 6 players participating in the task, and during 3 consecutive sets of around 5 minutes. This has been the last part of a session performed the day after an official game by the players who didn't played it, members of a spanish first division professional soccer team.

Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Small sided game 4x4 with 4 little goals.
Today we'll see some data from another small sided game, played in a little pitch of 30x20m by some players of an Spanish amateur soccer team. Apart from the small pitch, this game has been executed during 5 minutes, with maximum 3 touches of the ball by the same player, and without direction, that is every team can score on any little goal.
That's the result on the collective metabolic power exertion of the players involved in the task.
Enjoy,

An error in last post!!!

When writing about last post, I told you (and this is an ERROR), that the data corresponded to an amateur Spanish soccer team; that's not correct. The data correspond to a professional Spanish first division soccer team.

Sorry!

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: Small sided soccer game 3x3.
After a sightseeing of collective metabolic power exertion during soccer games, in professional and amateur Spanish soccer teams, we have done also a tour over the same metric demonstrated when playing different specific tactical games.
Now is the turn to go over the collective metabolic power exertion of different specific training tasks.
As a starting point, when planning a microcycle, a session or specially just a task, we have to had a clear idea of the main and secondary target of it, in order to be able to evaluate and if necessary correct it to improve our team performance.
By now, we are just paying attention to the conditioning structure of our team (without loosing sight the others structures as coordinative, cognitive, socio-affective, emotional-volitive, etc.).
With this in mind, and having as a reference the phases of higher collective metabolic power exertion during games, we are trying to show how to better improve our training methodology.
This implies that those specific tasks that we propose to try to improve in some way the specific conditioning of our team must be related to what happens during competition.
After this little reminder, let's go for today video where you will see an example of a typical small sided game of 3 against 3 players, with standard goals and goalkeepers for each team, in a pitch of 40x30m. This task was carried out during the in-season trainings of a spanish amateur soccer team (Cambrils CF), and as you will see there are some very interesting things to analyze.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical 8x6+gk game (part 4).
And this is the last part of this specific topic. Just be ready for the next entrance!
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical 8x6+gk game (part 3).
This weekend I show you another video in which you'll see the collective metabolic power exertion in another 8x6+gk tactical game. In this case, the duration of this specific task has been shorter, around 5'30", and as you'll check, not always are the defensive players those who demonstrate a higher collective metabolic power exertion in this task.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical 8x6+gk game (part 2).
As in the previous post, I will show you some more data of the same tactical game done by the same spanish first division soccer team, and with the same characteristics, all along the next posts, and before going for the analysis of other specific training tasks.
The idea is show you data from the same specific task in different sessions, in order to have a better idea of the conditional demonstration via collective metabolic power exertion.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical games (part 4).
As today the part 3 of this issue has been really short and not really special, I show you the next step, that is, the analysis of a tactical game 8 against 6 plus a goalkeeper (8x6+p). In this tactical game, the 8 attack players must defend 4 little goals put on their bottom line, in a pitch of 65x70m. The 6 defense players with two midfielders and 4 defenses playing in line and in zone. The game is played with off-side rule.
Remember that this game has been done by a spanish professional first division soccer team.
You will see the data corresponding to the first of 2 reps of this specific task, played in the same day.
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical games (part 3).
Today just a short video in which we analyze the same tactical game (6 against 4 plus a goalkeeper), but in this case it have been done the day after a game by the players who didn't played the game, and just for a few minutes (around 5').
As you will soon see, the collective metabolic power exertion is really low, so ...
Enjoy,

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical games (part 2).
In this second part I show more data for the same task (tactical game 6 against 4 plus goalkeeper), but realized later in time by the same spanish first division professional soccer team.
Again we can see how the team exert it's collective metabolic power, in terms of average intensity and in time.
Enjoy, 

Collective metabolic power exertion in soccer training: tactical games (part 1).
Now that we have an idea about the collective metabolic power exertion during friendly soccer games, the next step is to analyze the same concept and in the same way but in different soccer specific training tasks.
In this case, let's start by the analysis of some tactical games, used to the development of the way of play of a professional spanish soccer team (La Liga first division in season 2007-08).
The first task is a tactical game 6x4+p, what means 6 attack players against 4 defensive players (in line and in zone) plus a goalkeeper. During this task, there is usual to stop in order to correct some specific movements and to coordinate the movements of the attack - defense players according to the way of play and the philosophy of the head coach.
Enjoy,

Metabolic power collective exertion during soccer games: summary.

Just to summarize what we have been analyzing in the lasts posts, if we want to prepare our team based on their conditioning demonstration during soccer games, we'll have to pay attention to the fact that during friendly soccer games, independently of the level of the players (pro and amateur), the phases of higher metabolic power collective exertion show an average value around 1'-3', and during this time, the team can perform different moments of the game (attack, defense, and transitions between them) in different combinations.
We have seen also that, at least in our analysis, there are always some interruptions during these higher exertion phases, but the doesn't affect to the higher metabolic power collective exertion (short stops).

Also we have seen that these phases of higher metabolic power collective exertion starts and ends mainly by an "stop ball set" (foul, through in, corner, etc.), up for an 83% of the cases.

On the other hand, the duration of the interspersed phases of lower metabolic power collective exertion has been shown to be also around 1'-3'.
These means that is possible to play with a lower collective metabolic power exertion, and this is a crucial aspect to control when developing our soccer specific training methodology, because of its effects on the medium and long term development of the players specific conditioning. But we will talk about it in future posts.

So at first, our general temporal reference for applying on the specific soccer tasks if our target is the development of the collective conditioning, and we want to optimize our training time, should be around 1'-3' / 1'-3'.
This means that the time for pauses could be exploited not only for physical recovery, but also (and specially important for the collective and individual cognitive development) for influence on the tactical aspects.
If the main target of the specific task is not just the development of the collective specific conditioning, but the collective adaptation to the demands (all different levels, so cognitive, coordinative, conditional, etc ...) of the game in its various moments (attack, defense, and transitions between them), then it is necessary to use longer intervals for these short of specific tasks.

Next step: how our team behaves when training with different specific soccer tasks?
We will see this issue soon.
Enjoy.

Characteristics of the intervals of higher and lower exertion on soccer friendly games (part 4).
In this last part of this issue, I present you more data, but this time correspond to a friendly soccer game of an spanish amateur team (Cambrils FC).
You can compare this data with previous one corresponding to a professional spanish soccer team, in order to see the differences and similitudes in the metabolic power collective demonstration.
At the end, there arrive some very practical conclusions for its application in specific soccer training tasks.
Enjoy,

Characteristics of the intervals of higher and lower exertion on soccer friendly games (part 3).
In this post, I include more data from the same spanish professional soccer team, but from another friendly game, based also on metabolic power collective exertion.
You can now have a better idea of how collective metabolic power exertion evolves in time during a game.
You will have then the basic information for apply it to collective soccer training (we will discuss this issue in another post).
Enjoy,