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The acute effects of graded physiological strain on soccer kicking performance: a randomized, controlled cross-over study

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to examine the acute effects of graded physiological strain on soccer kicking performance.

Methods

Twenty-eight semi-professional soccer players completed both experimental and control procedure. The experimental protocol incorporated repeated shooting trials combined with a progressive discontinuous maximal shuttle-run intervention. The initial running velocity was 8 km/h and increasing for 1 km/h every 3 min until exhaustion. The control protocol comprised only eight subsequent shooting trials. The soccer-specific kicking accuracy (KA; average distance from the ball-entry point to the goal center), kicking velocity (KV), and kicking quality (KQ; kicking accuracy divided by the time elapsed from hitting the ball to the point of entry) were evaluated via reproducible and valid test over five individually determined exercise intensity zones.

Results

Compared with baseline or exercise at intensities below the second lactate threshold (LT2), physiological exertion above the LT2 (blood lactate > 4 mmol/L) resulted in meaningful decrease in KA (11–13 %; p < 0.05), KV (3–4 %; p < 0.05), and overall KQ (13–15 %; p < 0.01). The light and moderate-intensity exercise below the LT2 had no significant effect on soccer kicking performance.

Conclusions

The results suggest that high-intensity physiological exertion above the player’s LT2 impairs soccer kicking performance. In contrast, light to moderate physiological stress appears to be neither harmful nor beneficial for kicking performance.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BLA:

Blood lactate

Bpm:

Beats per minute

HR:

Heart rate

KA:

Kicking accuracy

KV:

Kicking velocity

KQ:

Kicking quality

LT:

Lactate threshold

pH:

Acidity

RPE:

Rating of perceived exertion

VO2max :

Maximal oxygen uptake

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ernst Mach Scholarship granted by OeAD—Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research, financed by Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF). The authors would like to state that The Austrian Institute of Sports Medicine also supported the portion of this work. The authors are grateful to the Rapid Vienna Football Club for hosting our experimental procedures at their training facilities and to Mr. Stefan Oesen, M.Sc., for his valuable assistance in blood sampling and analysis. We would especially like to thank the Rapid Vienna Football Club, the Wiener Sportklub Football Club, and the Ostbahn Football Club for collaboration and to each individual soccer player who has made effort to participate in the comprehensive and exhausting procedures of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sport Science, University of Vienna, Auf der Schmelz 6, 1150, Vienna, Austria

    Ivan Radman, Barbara Wessner & Norbert Bachl

  2. Austrian Institute of Sports Medicine, Auf der Schmelz 6, 1150, Vienna, Austria

    Norbert Bachl & Markus Hackl

  3. Motor Control and Human Performance Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Horvacanski zavoj 15, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Lana Ruzic & Goran Markovic

  4. University Hospital for Orthopaedic Surgery Lovran, Marsala Tita 1, 51415, Lovran, Croatia

    Tomislav Prpic

Authors
  1. Ivan Radman
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  2. Barbara Wessner
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  3. Norbert Bachl
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  4. Lana Ruzic
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  5. Markus Hackl
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  6. Tomislav Prpic
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  7. Goran Markovic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Goran Markovic.

Additional information

Communicated by Guido Ferretti.

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Radman, I., Wessner, B., Bachl, N. et al. The acute effects of graded physiological strain on soccer kicking performance: a randomized, controlled cross-over study. Eur J Appl Physiol 116, 373–382 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3293-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3293-7

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