Citation

Caetano F, Bueno M, Marche A, Nakamura F, Cunha S, Moura F. J. Appl. Biomech. 2015; 31(6): 423-429.

Affiliation

Sport Sciences Department, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jab.2014-0159

PMID

26155741

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to investigate sprints and to characterise repeated-sprint sequences (RS) performed by athletes during professional futsal matches. We analysed 97 players during five official matches using the DVideo automatic tracking system. The sprints were analysed during the first and second halves according to playing position, and RS were categorised according to the number of sprints and the time between them. The results showed an increase (F(1, 2520) = 3.96; p =.046) in the sprint duration from the first (mean = 3.1 ± 1.3) to the second half (mean = 3.2 ± 1.2). However, no differences were found for other variables (distance covered, peak velocity, initial velocity, recovery time between sprints and sprints performed per minute) or among playing positions. Additionally, when considering RS, the results showed that RS comprising two sprints interspersed with a maximum of 15 s of recovery were significantly more frequent than other RS. The findings of this study characterising the sprinting features of futsal players can help coaches to plan physical training and assessments according to the requirements of the sport.

Language: en