The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of a comprehensive warm up system designed to improve technical abilities in youth football.
Abstract
Objective: To examine the effect of a comprehensive warm up system designed to improve technical abilities in youth football.
Design: Cluster randomized controlled trial with clubs as the unit of randomization.
Setting: Five football clubs from the Region of Nordjylland (15 clusters in the intervention group; 15 in the control group) followed for one league season (eight months).
Participants: 82 youth players aged 7-13 (55 players in the intervention group aged 10,5 ± 1,5; 27 players in the control group aged 10,9 ± 1,4).
Intervention: The intervention group used SSA Football Performance System, a comprehensive warm up system to improve awareness, and neuromuscular control during specific and dynamic exercises developed from biomechanical analyzing of specific skills in the game of football.
Main outcome measure: Use of quantitative data from pre- and posttest, made with the use of a specific test battery consisting of four tests (football_agility_w/_ball, football_agility_w/o_ball, 40m_agility_sprint and basic_skill).
Results: The control group improved by 2,8%, which was a significant increase, in the 40m_agility_sprint test, but showed no significant increase or decrease in any other test. The intervention group showed significant improvements in all four tests with respectively 7,2% (basic_skills), 5,2% (40m_agility_sprint), 2% (football_agility_w/o_ball) and 10,4% (football_agility_w/_ball)
Discussion: The results sheds light on the importance of creating specific warmup programs, for improving specific movement skills (Magill 2003). Furthermore, it is interesting to note the 40 m agility sprint test, which showed significant improvements for both groups. A German study showed similar results, and explained the importance of body strength in sprint (A. Sander, et al. 2012).
Conclusion: By following the warmup program during an eight-month season, the intervention group showed significant improvements in their technical abilities. To optimize the daily training of youth football players, using the SSA Football Performance System warmup program used in this study, instead of a non-organized warm up is recommended.