AUTHOR=Illa Jordi , Fernandez Daniel , Reche Xavier , Serpiello Fabio R. 

TITLE=Positional Differences in the Most Demanding Scenarios of External Load Variables in Elite Futsal Matches

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.625126

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.625126

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=The aims of this study were to analyze the peak physical demands in elite futsal by quantifying the most demanding scenarios of match play and to identify the differences between playing positions (defenders, wingers and pivots) and the seasonal trend for five different rolling average time windows (30, 60, 120, 180 and 300 seconds). The most demanding scenarios of external load from distance, speed, acceleration and deceleration variables were obtained from fourteen elite futsal players using a local positioning system during fifteen official matches in the premier Spanish Futsal League (2018-2019 season). The results showed an extremely large effect of the time window for all dependent variables in all positional groups. Another important finding of this study was that, in regard to the seasonal trend, only defenders reported clear moderate-large positive trends for high-speed running (>18 km·h-1) efforts, high-acceleration efforts, and high-deceleration efforts. Finally, moderate-large individual differences in player means for all dependent variables and clear differences between games for most dependent variables were found, suggesting how likely contextual factors may exert an influence on how “demanding” the most demanding scenarios are. The findings of this study provide coaches and strength and conditioning coaches further knowledge of the peak physical demands in elite futsal competition with valuable information which may lead to a more precise position-specific training prescription.