Abstract
This study aimed to systematically review the influence of the relative area on athletes’ physical and physiological responses (outcomes) during small-sided games of soccer which were not matched to the relative area. It also presents a meta-analysis comparing standard small-sided games protocols with different relative areas. We searched the Web of Science and Scopus electronic databases for literature published up to March 2020 following all PRISMA guidelines for selecting articles for a qualitative and quantitative synthesis. As a result, eleven articles matched the inclusion criteria. For the quantitative synthesis, a pooled random-effects model was used to make pairwise comparisons between protocols with larger or smaller areas in each selected study. Prediction intervals were used to assess the heterogeneity. We found positive effects of larger relative areas per player on their total distance (d = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.12–1.34; p = 0.006; medium to large effect), distance covered at high speed (d = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.22–1.65; p = 0.001; large effect), and mean heart rate (d = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.17–0.88; p = 0.008; medium effect). In other words, larger relative areas were found to induce higher physical and physiological responses in players. Future studies should consider the relative area per player when comparing data for different small-sided games configurations to avoid confounding variables. Also, coaches can use relative area per player calculations to easily predict increases and decreases in expected training loads for different versions of SSGs during training.
Highlights
Variations of small-sided games (SSGs) of soccer can induce different tactical, technical, physical, and physiological responses in players (Aslan, 2013; Koklu, 2012; Sarmento et al, 2018)
We intended to investigate whether the simple relative area variable could reduce the calculations necessary to establish appropriate SSG formats for soccer players if the change in that variable was able to modify multiple aspects simultaneously
The results of the present study demonstrated that a larger total distance covered and distance covered at high-speed have occurred in SSGs with larger relative areas
Summary
Variations of small-sided games (SSGs) of soccer can induce different tactical, technical, physical, and physiological responses in players (Aslan, 2013; Koklu, 2012; Sarmento et al, 2018). Coaches and physical trainers can achieve specific training goals by modifying SSG configurations such as rules, the number of players per team, pitch size (length x width), and the playing area, according to the expected responses from each SSG format. A large number of studies on SSGs have investigated players’ responses to different numbers of players and/or modified pitch sizes (Sarmento et al, 2018) and often discussed the potential impact of the ‘available area per player’ (i.e., relative area) on the demands of SSGs (Castellano et al, 2015). Several studies have supported the idea that a larger relative area increases the physical and physiological responses of soccer players during SSGs (Castellano et al, 2015, 2016), with higher values for total distance
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