Assessing Repeated-Sprint Ability in Division I Collegiate Women Soccer Players

Lockie, RG, Liu, TM, Stage, AA, Lazar, A, Giuliano, DV, Hurley, JM, Torne, IA, Beiley, MD, Birmingham-Babauta, SA, Stokes, JJ, Risso, FG, Davis, DL, Moreno, MR, and Orjalo, AJ. Assessing repeated-sprint ability in Division I collegiate women soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 34(7): 2015–2023, 2020—Repeated-sprint ability (RSA) is a key component of soccer, and is the capacity to repeatedly produce near-maximal to maximal sprints with short recovery periods. Repeated-sprint ability has received little analysis in collegiate women soccer players. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between RSA and tests of soccer-specific performance. Nineteen players from the same Division I collegiate women's soccer team were recruited. The RSA test consisted of six 20-m sprints completed on 15-second cycles. The measurements taken were total time (TT) and percent decrement (PD; percent change from first to last sprint). Subjects also completed tests of: lower-body strength (1 repetition maximum [1RM] back squat); jump performance (vertical and standing long jumps); linear (0–5, 0–10, and 0–30 m sprint intervals) and change-of-direction (505 from each leg) speed; and soccer-specific fitness (Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 [YYIRT1]). Pearson's correlations (p ≤ 0.05) were used to calculate relationships between RSA TT and PD with the performance tests. Total time exhibited significant relationships with the 0–10 (r = 0.50) and 0–30 m (r = 0.71...

Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research - June 25, 2020 Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Original Research Source Type: research