Small-Sided Soccer Games with Larger Relative Areas Result in Higher Physical and Physiological Responses: A Systematic and Meta-Analytical Review

This study aimed to systematically review the influence of the relative area on athletes’ physical and physiological responses (outcomes) during small-sided games of soccer which were not matched to the relative area. It also presents a meta-analysis comparing standard small-sided games protocols wi...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Gibson Moreira Praça, Mauro Heleno Chagas, Sarah da Glória Teles Bredt, André Gustavo Pereira de Andrade
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Brasil
Recursos:Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFMG
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.ufmg.br:1843/60604
Acesso em linha:https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2022-0013
http://hdl.handle.net/1843/60604
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Soccer
Small-sided games
GPS
Relative area per player
Physical response
Physiological response
Futebol
Estresse fisiológico
Sistema de Posicionamento Global
Descrição
Resumo:This study aimed to systematically review the influence of the relative area on athletes’ physical and physiological responses (outcomes) during small-sided games of soccer which were not matched to the relative area. It also presents a meta-analysis comparing standard small-sided games protocols with different relative areas. We searched the Web of Science and Scopus electronic databases for literature published up to March 2020 following all PRISMA guidelines for selecting articles for a qualitative and quantitative synthesis. As a result, eleven articles matched the inclusion criteria. For the quantitative synthesis, a pooled random-effects model was used to make pairwise comparisons between protocols with larger or smaller areas in each selected study. Prediction intervals were used to assess the heterogeneity. We found positive effects of larger relative areas per player on their total distance (d = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.12–1.34; p = 0.006; medium to large effect), distance covered at high speed (d = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.22–1.65; p = 0.001; large effect), and mean heart rate (d = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.17–0.88; p = 0.008; medium effect). In other words, larger relative areas were found to induce higher physical and physiological responses in players. Future studies should consider the relative area per player when comparing data for different small-sided games configurations to avoid confounding variables. Also, coaches can use relative area per player calculations to easily predict increases and decreases in expected training loads for different versions of SSGs during training.