Abstract
Fundamental motor skills (FMS) are the basic elements of more complex sport-specific skills and should be mastered at the end of early childhood; however, the relationship between FMS and sport-specific skills has not yet been verified in prepubertal soccer players. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the role of FMS in the process of acquiring soccer-specific motor skills (measured using speed dribbling) with regard to physical fitness and biological maturation. Forty male soccer players (11.5 ± 0.3 years of age) at the highest performance level participated in the study. The test of Gross Motor Development – second edition and Unifittest 6–60 were used to assess FMS and physical fitness, respectively. The role of FMS in a complex theoretical model with the relationships between physical fitness, biological maturation and speed dribbling was analyzed by multiple regression path analyses (MRPA). Moderate to strong correlations were found between FMS, physical fitness, and speed dribbling (r = 0.56–0.66). Biological maturation did not appear to be a significant predictor of physical fitness or speed dribbling. The MRPA model using FMS as mediator variable between physical fitness and speed dribbling showed a significant indirect effect (standard estimation = −0.31, p = 0.001; R2 = 0.25). However, the direct correlation between physical fitness and speed dribbling was non-significant. Our results showed that FMS significantly strengthened the influence of physical fitness on the performance of speed dribbling, a soccer-specific motor skill, and thus play an important role in the process of acquiring sport-specific motor skills in prepubertal soccer players. When considering the long-term training process, especially during childhood and before puberty, a wide range of FMS activities should be applied for better and possibly faster acquisition of soccer-specific motor skills.
Highlights
One of the main goals of professional soccer clubs and their youth academies is to develop young, talented players into successful professional players (Huijgen et al, 2013)
The present study examined the possible role of Fundamental motor skills (FMS) in the relationships between physical fitness and biological maturation and speed dribbling as a soccer-specific soccer skill in young soccer players
Our results suggest that FMS mastery significantly increases the influence of physical fitness on the performance of soccer-specific skills in young players
Summary
One of the main goals of professional soccer clubs and their youth academies is to develop young, talented players into successful professional players (Huijgen et al, 2013). Many clubs and national associations (e.g., Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Netherlands) have created programs for talent identification and development (TID) to provide the best training environment and Fundamental Motor Skills in Soccer conditions for young players with noticeable potential; enrollment in these programs often starts during early adolescence (Deutscher Fuûball Bund, 2009; Huijgen et al, 2014; Leyhr et al, 2018). During the last two decades, technical-tactical skills and physical fitness in particular have been frequently explored and identified as key determinants of young players’ game performance, serving as discriminants between elite, subelite and non-elite youth soccer players (Meylan et al, 2010; Unnithan et al, 2012; Höner et al, 2017; Serrano et al, 2017; Leyhr et al, 2018). The relationship between biological maturation and the performance of technical skills is contradictory to the results of some studies confirming the influence of biological maturation status on the performance of technical skills tests (Philippaerts et al, 2006; Rommers et al, 2018) and other studies finding a lack of influence of biological maturation on the performance of technical skills (Figueiredo et al, 2009; Vandendriessche et al, 2012)
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