Examining the effect of reduced action capabilities on defensive anticipation in a 1-vs-1 task

ABSTRACT

This study used small-sided games (SSGs) to induce fatigue and therefore, reduce the action capabilities of Varsity soccer players (n= 20). The aim was to examine the effect of compromised action capabilities on defensive movement response in a 1-vs-1 scenario. Action capabilities were assessed via countermovement jumps (CMJ), 5-m acceleration, 20-m sprint and a Change of Direction (COD) test. Defensive movement response was measured via a Soccer-Specific Anticipation Test (SSAT). Following SSGs, significant reductions were observed in jump (p=.04, d=.31), acceleration (p<.001, d=.98), and sprint (p<.001, d=.66) performance. Significantly, players tended to move earlier in the SSAT following SSGs (p=.049, d=.66). Furthermore, to examine the distinct effect of reductions in each action capability, players were categorised according to whether SSGs had a worthwhile change in CMJ, acceleration, sprint or COD performance. For each of the four measures, movements tended to be initiated earlier following SSGs, although pre-/post-SSGs differences were not significant (p =.08-.51), moderate to large effect sizes were shown (d=.56-.84). These findings intimate that compromised action capabilities influence the timing of the movement response of defensive players in 1-vs-1 situations.

KEYWORDS:

• Small-sided games
• anticipation
• action capabilities
• representative design

Acknowledgements

Mr Jordan Downing and Mr Archie Wilson for their assistance in the data collection process and, despite not including the small-sided games (SSGs) global positioning system (GPS) data, we would like to acknowledge Dr Mathieu Lacome for assistance in the analysis of this data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The intensity of the small-sided games (SSG) protocol was measured in accordance with recommendations (Hill-Haas et al. 2011), via a combination of internal and external measures. Heart rate (HR_Mean %) for each SSG was captured via Polar team monitoring system (Kempele, Finland). Perceived exertion was captured using the Borg 20-scale (Borg 1982) immediately after each SSG. To determine external load, time motion analysis data were collected using 10-Hz GPS units embedded with 100 Hz tri-axial accelerometers (PlayerTek, UK), as recommended by Lacome, Simpson, Cholley, Lambert and Buchheit (2018). To determine external load for each SSG, the sum of accelerations and decelerations was used, which was defined as changes in velocity as >3 m/s. This was calculated along with total distance. This data is available from the lead author upon request.

2. 95% confidence intervals (CI) were determined using the spreadsheet developed by Wuensch (2012) for calculation of the 95% CI of Cohen’s d effect sizes for within-subject study designs.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that the study was not supported by any funding.