The Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Position-Specific Match Running Performance of Professional Football Players; Preliminary Observational Study
The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match runni...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/c6403d736aaf484685404d36e67fbd30 |
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| Sumario: | The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match running performance (MRP) to determine the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the physical performance of professional football players. Players’ MRPs (<i>n</i> = 124) were observed in matches before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in the 2019/2020 season of the highest level of national competition in Croatia and were classified according to player position: central defenders (CD; <i>n</i> = 42), fullbacks (FB; <i>n</i> = 20), midfielders (MF; <i>n</i> = 46), and forwards (FW; <i>n</i> = 16). The MRPs were measured using Global Positioning System, and included the total distance covered, low-intensity running (≤14.3 km/h), running (14.4–19.7 km/h), high-intensity running (≥19.8 km/h), total accelerations (>0.5 m/s<sup>2</sup>), high-intensity accelerations (>3 m/s<sup>2</sup>), total decelerations (less than –0.5 m/s<sup>2</sup>), and high-intensity decelerations (less than –3 m/s<sup>2</sup>). The results indicated that, in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown, (i) CDs and FBs featured lower running and high-intensity running (t-value: from 2.05 to 3.51; all <i>p</i> < 0.05; moderate to large effect sizes), (ii) MFs covered a greater distance in low-intensity running and achieved a lower number of total accelerations, and total and high-intensity decelerations (t-value: from –3.54 to 2.46; all <i>p</i> < 0.05, moderate to large effect sizes), and (iii) FWs featured lower high-intensity running (t-value = 2.66, <i>p</i> = 0.02, large effect size). These findings demonstrate that the physical performances of football players from the Croatian first division significantly decreased in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown. A combination of inadequate adaptation to football-specific match demands and a crowded schedule after the competition was restarted most likely resulted in such an effect. |
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