THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PERFORMANCE IN THE VELOCITY TEST OF YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS IN DIFFERENT SURFACES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of young soccer players during velocity tests composed of a 15-meter straight line in two different surfaces, sand and grass. 22 volunteers from a Belo Horizonte soccer team were involved: 18 of a younger category (16 and 17 years) and 4 of an older category (16 and 17 years). The photocells were located in the 0m mark and in the 15m mark, and the players would begin the test from a stationary position. Each athlete was submitted to 12 test trials. Three were realized with bare foot in sand, three with cleat shoes in sand, three with bare foot in grass, and three with cleat shoes in grass. A 25-to-30 minute rest was respected between the different surface trials, as well as a 2-to-3 minute rest between the same surface trials. The best trial was the one used for statistical analysis. The data was studied through a parametric test of variance analysis (ANOVA) and its differences were identified through the Post Hop Tukey. The significance level maintained its rightful value of p<0, 05. The study showed that there is a significant difference among the performance of players during the V15 m test using shoes in grass (TSG) (2, 50 ± 0,106 s), using shoes in sand (TSS) (2,75 ± 0,109 s), and without shoes in sand (TWS) (2,68 ± 0,106 s). However, it was not found any difference between the performance of players during the TSS and the test without shoes in grass (TWG) (2,49 ± 0,06 s). It has also not been found significant differences between the average results of the TSG and the TWG, or between the average results of the TSS and the TWS. Concluding, young soccer players spent more time to run in sand than in grass.