Abstract
The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to analyze the physical demands in the return to play (RTP) process of high-level soccer players in the role of floater in different soccer sided games (SGs) formats (i.e., 4vs4 + 2 and 8vs8 + 1); and (ii) to analyze the differences in physical demands encountered by regular and floater players among the SGs formats and official matches by means of global positioning system technology (GPS APEX pod, North Ireland) was used. Twenty-six highly trained, male soccer players (U16 years) participated in this investigation. Players were classified into two groups: 23 regular and 3 floater players, a total of eight SGs were analyzed, which involved the recording of 80 observations of regular and floater players. Match-play players showed most likely–probable differences in distance covered at high-intensity per minute (D > 14.4/min), at high-speed running per minute (D > 21/min), and peak velocity (Vpeak) in comparison to floaters in the 8vs8 + 1 LSG (large-side-games), and presented most likely differences in accelerations >2/min in comparison to match-play players. Therefore, the use of floaters during the last phase of the RTP (return to play) seems to be a useful strategy for progressive reintroduction into specific training (1) floater in the 4vs4 + 2 SSG; (2) floater in the 8vs8 + 1 LSG; (3) regular player in the 4vs4 + 2 SSG; and (4) regular player in the 8vs8 + 1 LSG before starting full trainings and returning to competition.
Highlights
The return to play (RTP) process is defined as the phases through which an injured athlete safely returns to training and the competition context in order to protect his health, decreasing the risk of reinjury, and minimising the time when the athlete is unavailable for competition
Our results showed lower physical demands encountered by floaters and regular players during both small-sided games (SSGs) and large-sided games (LSGs) in the D > 14.4/m, DT > 21/m and Vpeak in comparison to match-play
The results of the present study demonstrate that the use of floaters decreases the physical demands in comparison to those demands encountered by regular players during the sided games (SGs) formats (i.e., 4vs4 + 2 SSG and 8vs8 + 1 LSG)
Summary
The return to play (RTP) process is defined as the phases through which an injured athlete safely returns to training and the competition context in order to protect his health, decreasing the risk of reinjury, and minimising the time when the athlete is unavailable for competition. The RTP is as functional sports re-education, differentiating three phases: recovery, retraining, and training These phases could ensure an optimal adaptation and the progressive improvement of performance thanks to the application of specific external loads, and allow players to reach a successful RTP. Unde previous literature [4], SGs have been classified based on the number of players per team as small-sided games (SSGs) using 2–4 players, medium-sided games (MSGs) involving 5–7 players, and large-sided games (LSGs) using 8–11 players Considering these SGs formats, it would be adequate to take into account the number of players in the RTP process, since this would allow athletes to progressively and prepare to face the competition in compliance with the specificity training principle [5]
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