Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to describe the association between chronological age, morphology, biological maturation and sport experience in relation to technical performance in young Brazilian soccer players. Technical, maturation and anthropometric variables were assessed in 119 soccer players, 74 and 45 in the under-15 and under-17 categories, respectively. Data were analyzed using a multiple linear regression model. Adiposity was negatively associated with technical performance regardless the age-category. Weight was negatively associated with technical performance in under-15 and positively with the under-17 category, respectively. In under-17 biological maturation was negatively related to the dribbling test and positively associated with the ball control test. Years of experience proved to be positively associated with technique taught to soccer player in the under-17 category. The explained variance was different between categories. The technical performance of Brazilian soccer players aged 14-to-17 seems to be related to biological maturation, adiposity, weight and years of experience.
Highlights
Soccer performance is the result of an interaction among tactical, technical, functional and psychosocial factors (Williams, & Reilly, 2000)
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between morphological, biological maturation and training indicators and the technical performance of young Brazilian soccer players
A careful analysis of the present results showed that these indicators contributed to technical performance differently in the U-15 than in the U-17 category
Summary
Soccer performance is the result of an interaction among tactical, technical, functional and psychosocial factors (Williams, & Reilly, 2000). Understanding and explaining the variability of these factors and their relationship with soccer performance in different age categories has been an important challenge for researchers and coaches involved in the process of identifying, selecting, and developing young soccer players (Vaeyens et al, 2006). It is relevant to develop studies designed to identify the relative contribution of different morphological and maturational indicators in technical performance among different age categories, as this may facilitate the identification, selection, and development of soccer talents (Vaeyens et al, 2006)
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