Effects of small-sided games on physical conditioning and performance in young soccer players

The purpose of this study was to examine, first, the movementactions performed during two different small-sided games and,second, their effects on a series of field endurance and technicaltests. thirty-four young soccer players (age: 13 ± 0.9 yrs; bodymass: 62.3 ± 15.1 kg; height: 1.65 ± 0.06 m) participated in thestudy. small-sided games included three-a-side (3 versus 3players) and six-a-side (6 versus 6 players) games consisting of10 bouts of 4 min duration with 3 min active recovery betweenbouts. soccer player performance was evaluated using five fieldtests: a) 30m sprint, b) throw-in for distance, c) illinois agilitytest, d) dribbling the ball and e) horizontal jump before, in themiddle and after the implementation of both game situations.heart rate was monitored during the entire testing session. eachgame was also filmed to measure soccer movements within thegame. the anova analysis indicated that the three-a-sidegames displayed significantly higher heart rate values comparedwith the six-a-side games (p < 0.05). the number of shortpasses, kicks, tackles, dribbles and scoring goals were significantlyhigher during the three-a-side compared with the six-asidegame condition (p < 0.05) while players performed morelong passes and headed the ball more often during the six-a-side(p < 0.05). after the three-a-side games, there was a significantdecline in sprint and agility performance (p < 0.05), while afterboth game conditions significant alterations in the throw-in andthe horizontal jump performance were observed (p < 0.05). theresults of the present study indicated that three-a-side gamesprovide higher stimulus for physical conditioning and technicalimprovement than six-a-side games and their use for trainingyoung soccer players is recommended.