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Fitness determinants of success in men's and women's

football
a b c d
Iñigo Mujika , Juanma Santisteban , Franco M. Impellizzeri & Carlo Castagna
a
USP – Araba Sport Clinic, Vitoria–Gasteiz, Basque Country
b
Department of Research and Development, Athletic Club Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
c
Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Schulthess Klinik, Zurich, Switzerland
d
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

Version of record first published: 19 Jan 2009.

To cite this article: Iñigo Mujika, Juanma Santisteban, Franco M. Impellizzeri & Carlo Castagna (2009): Fitness determinants
of success in men's and women's football, Journal of Sports Sciences, 27:2, 107-114

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 Journal of Sports Sciences, January 15th 2009; 27(2): 107–114

Fitness determinants of success in men’s and women’s football

IÑIGO MUJIKA1, JUANMA SANTISTEBAN2, FRANCO M. IMPELLIZZERI3, &

CARLO CASTAGNA4
1
USP – Araba Sport Clinic, Vitoria–Gasteiz, Basque Country, 2Department of Research and Development, Athletic Club
Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, 3Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Schulthess Klinik, Zurich, Switzerland and 4School of Sport and
Exercise Sciences, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Rome, Italy

(Accepted 22 August 2008)

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Abstract
In this study, we examined gender and age differences in physical performance in football. Thirty-four elite female and 34
elite male players (age 17 + 1.6 to 24 + 3.4 years) from a professional football club were divided into four groups (n ¼ 17
each) according to gender and competitive level (senior males, senior females, junior males, and junior females). Players
were tested for specific endurance (Yo-YoIR1), sprint over 15 m (Sprint-15m), vertical jump without (CMJ) or with
(ACMJ) arm swing, agility (Agility-15m), and ball dribbling over 15 m (Ball-15m). The Yo-YoIR1 and Agility-15m
performances showed both a gender and competitive level difference (P 5 0.001). Senior and junior males covered 97 and
153% more distance during the Yo-YoIR1 than senior and junior females, respectively (P 5 0.001). Gender but not age
differences were found for Sprint-15m performance (P 5 0.001). No difference in vertical jump and Ball-15m performances
were found between senior and junior males (P 4 0.05). More marked gender differences were evident in endurance than in
anaerobic performance in female players. These results show major fitness differences by gender for a given competitive level
in football players. It is suggested that training and talent identification should focus on football-specific endurance and
agility as fitness traits in post-adolescent players of both sexes.

Keywords: Soccer, performance, gender difference, intermittent exercise, agility

(speed 4 15 km  h71) than male players matched

Introduction
for age and competitive standard (Krustrup, Mohr,
Association football (soccer) is a multifaceted sport, Ellingsgaard, & Bangsbo, 2005).
in which success depends on several physical, Match fatigue shows a similar profile across the
technical, and tactical factors (Stølen, Chamari, sexes, with marked decrements in high-intensity
Castagna, & Wisløff, 2005). Reilly and colleagues activities evident during the later stages of competi-
(Reilly, Bangsbo, & Franks, 2000) indicated that a tion (Krustrup et al., 2005; Mohr et al., 2005; Stølen
number of physical and anthropometric prerequisites et al., 2005). Given the high match demands of elite
are necessary to compete at the elite level in football. football and the reported increments in match
Specifically, players are expected to possess well- intensity (Stølen et al., 2005), players of both sexes
developed aerobic fitness and anaerobic power, must be selected and trained to cope successfully
coupled with good agility (Sheppard & Young, with physical stress.
2006) to be capable of maintaining high power Although talent selection is an imprecise proce-
during fast movements over the entire match (Mohr, dure because there are many factors that are involved
Krustrup, & Bangsbo, 2005). in the development of a prospective player, knowl-
It has recently been shown that the physiological edge of fitness profiles of successful players has been
demand (i.e. percent of maximum heart rate and indicated as a valuable resource to guide talent
percent of maximum oxygen consumption) imposed selection and subsequent coaching (Bangsbo, 1994b;
on male and female elite players is similar (Stølen Reilly et al., 2000; Stølen et al., 2005; Williams &
et al., 2005). However, during competitive matches, Reilly, 2000). To our knowledge, no systematic
elite female players have been reported to cover study has compared within the same research design
less distance (*33% less) at high intensity the specific fitness characteristics of male and female

Correspondence: C. Castagna, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’, Villa Gentile, 00133 Rome, Italy.
E-mail: [email protected]
ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online Ó 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/02640410802428071
 108 I. Mujika et al.

football players competing at the elite level (Stølen reported to be relevant to football (Krustrup et al.,
et al., 2005). Information in this context would be of 2005; Svensson & Drust, 2005). The physical
particular interest to coaches and sport scientists for performances of senior male and female players were
the development of talent selection procedures and assumed as a paradigm of fitness requirements at the
specific training protocols (Reilly et al., 2000). professional level (Bangsbo, 1994b). Our working
Thus the purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis was promoted by the body of scientific
fitness characteristics of elite and non-elite male and literature that shows women’s absolute physical
female football players to gather information that performance to be lower than that of males matched
may be used for talent selection and specific training for age and training (Åstrand, Rodahl, Dahl, &
prescription. We hypothesized that there would be Stromme, 2003).
differences between the sexes and competitive All measurements were taken at the beginning of
standards of the players. the annual training season during the first 2 weeks of
the pre-competitive preparation (usually 8 weeks) to
limit differences in training status and/or intensity
Methods (Reilly, 2003). During the off-season (5–6 weeks),
players performed similar self-administrated uncon-
Participants
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trolled fitness maintenance programmes prescribed

Sixty-eight participants (34 female and 34 male by team coaches. All test procedures were performed
players) were randomly chosen among a group of by the same assessors. All players followed the same
First Division and junior players. Players were divided training programme with the supervision of their
into four groups (n ¼ 17 each) according to sex and respective team coaches. Players were familiar with
competitive standard as follows: female First Divi- all test procedures.
sion players (senior females); female junior players Test sessions were undertaken between 09:00 and
(junior females); male First Division players (senior 11:00 h, at least 24 h after the last training session
males); and male junior players (junior males). and 2 h post-prandial. Sessions started with the
All participants were outfield players and members measurement of players’ body mass, height, and sum
of the same professional football club. During the of six skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac,
2006–2007 competitive season, all players partici- abdominal, front thigh, medial calf; Holtain Ltd.,
pated in official Spanish league championships: Crymych, UK). All fitness tests (Figure 1) were
senior females played in the Spanish Super Liga performed in an indoor facility (temperature 24.4–
(First Division); junior females played in the Primera 26.48C, relative humidity 54.4–61.0%; Kestrel 4000
Nacional (second division); senior males played in Pocket Weather Tracker, Nielsen Kellerman, Boot-
La Liga (First Division); and junior males played in hwyn, PA, USA). All jumping tests were performed
the Tercera División (fourth division). Players’ on a concrete surface with the players wearing
physical characteristics at the time of the study are running shoes, whereas all running tests were
shown in Table I. Each player had at least 2 years’ performed on a synthetic football pitch with the
experience in their competitive category. players wearing football boots with studs.
Written informed consent was received from all Testing began after a 15-min standardized warm-
players and parents after verbal and written explana- up, which consisted of low-intensity forward, side-
tion of the experimental design and potential risks of ways, and backwards running, acceleration runs,
the study. The local Institutional Review Board skipping and hopping exercises, and jumps of
approved the study design. increasing intensity.

Vertical jumping. Countermovement jumps without

Experimental design
(CMJ) or with arm-swing (ACMJ) were performed
Comparisons between groups were performed using on a contact platform (Ergo Tester, Globus,
several field fitness tests that have previously been Codognè, Italy) according to Bosco and colleagues

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the fitness testing sequence. CMJ ¼ countermovement jump; ACMJ ¼ countermovement jump with
arm swing; Sprint-15m ¼ velocity in a 15-m dash; Agility-15m ¼ velocity in a 15-m agility run; Yo-YoIR1 ¼ Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery
Test Level 1.
 Gender differences in football 109

(Bosco, Luhtanen, & Komi, 1983). Each player passive recovery, and the fastest mean velocity
performed two maximal CMJ and ACMJ inter- achieved was recorded.
spersed with 3 min recovery (5 min between series),
and the best height for each was recorded. 15-m ball dribbling (Ball-15m). Five minutes after the
Agility-15m, players performed the Ball-15m. This
15-m sprint run (Sprint-15m). Five minutes after test was similar to the Agility-15m, but players were
completing all countermovement jumps, players required to dribble a ball while performing the test.
performed the Sprint-15m test. In this test, velocity After the slalom section of the test, the ball was
during a 15-m dash in a straight line was measured kicked under the hurdle while the player cleared it.
by means of photocell gates placed 1.0 m above The player then kicked the ball towards either of two
ground level (Timer S4, Alge-Timing, Lustenau, small goals placed diagonally 7 m on the left and the
Austria) and 5 m apart. Each sprint was initiated right sides of the hurdle, and sprinted to the finish
from an individually chosen standing position, 3 m line. Each player performed two maximal Ball-15m
behind the photocell gate, which started a digital interspersed with 3 min of passive recovery, and the
timer. Each player performed two maximal Sprint- fastest velocity achieved was recorded.
15m interspersed with 3 min of passive recovery, and
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the fastest velocity achieved was recorded. Sprint Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, Level 1 (Yo-YoIR1).
distance was chosen according to average sprint Ten minutes after the sprint tests, players performed
distance reported in football match-analysis studies the Yo-YoIR1 (Bangsbo, 1994a; Krustrup et al.,
(Stølen et al., 2005). 2003). To make consistent comparisons, Level 1 of
the test was used for all players that participated in
15-m agility run (Agility-15m). Five minutes after the the study.
Sprint-15m, players performed the Agility-15m. In
this test, players’ velocity in a 15-m agility run was
Statistical analyses
measured using the same photocell gates system as
above (Figure 2). As in the Sprint-15m test, players Results are presented as means + standard devia-
started running 3 m behind the initial set of gates. tions. Data sets were checked for normality using the
After 3 m of line running, players entered a 3-m Shapiro-Wilk normality test and visual inspection.
slalom section marked by three sticks 1.6 m high and Comparisons between the groups of male and female
placed 1.5 m apart, and then cleared a 0.5-m hurdle players were performed using factorial analysis of
placed 2 m beyond the third stick. Players finally ran vatiance (ANOVA) (2 6 2 design, gender 6 compe-
7 m to break the second set of photocell gates, which titive standard). Post-hoc analyses were carried out
stopped the timer (Figure 2). Each player performed with Bonferroni correction. Differences between two
two maximal Agility-15m interspersed with 3 min of variables were analysed using paired and unpaired
t-tests. Relationships between variables were assessed
using Pearson’s product–moment correlation.
Correction for multiple comparisons was undertaken
using the Bonferroni method with a resulting
operational alpha of 0.0025 (0.05/20).

Results
There was a main effect of gender for all measure-
ments (Tables I, II). Specifically, male players
Figure 2. Schematic representation of the 15-m agility run. showed better absolute results in all fitness tests

Table I. Physical characteristics of the football players involved in this study.

Variable Senior males Junior males Senior females Junior females

Age (years) 23.8 + 3.4 18.4 + 0.9a,c 23.1 + 2.9d 17.3 + 1.6c
Height (m) 1.82 + 0.04 1.78 + 0.05c 1.65 + 0.04b 1.64 + 0.05b
Body mass (kg) 77.0 + 5.7 72.0 + 4.6 56.8 + 5.7b 57.5 + 7.6b
Skinfolds (mm) 49.1 + 8.1 54.1 + 9.3 74.4 + 18.1b,d 95.1 + 22.3c

Note: Skinfolds ¼ sum of six skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, abdominal, front thigh, medial calf).
a
Significantly different from senior males. bSignificantly different from junior males. cSignificantly different from senior females.
d
Significantly different from junior females. All P 5 0.001.
 110 I. Mujika et al.

Table II. Field tests performance of the players involved in this study.

Variable Senior males Junior males Senior females Junior females

Yo-YoIR1 (m) 2414 + 456 2092 + 260a* 1224 + 255a,b,d*** 826 + 160a,b***
CMJ (cm) 43.7 + 2.2c,d*** 43.9 + 4.8c,d*** 32.6 + 3.7a,b*** 28.41 + 1.99c**
ACMJ (cm) 50.1 + 4.2c,d*** 51.8 + 4.8c,d*** 38.0 + 4.8 33.1 + 2.7d**
Sprint-15m (m  s71) 7.16 + 0.21c,d*** 7.17 + 0.22c,d*** 6.30 + 0.24 6.17 + 0.17
Agility-15m (m  s71) 5.14 + 0.25c,d*** 4.89 + 0.14a**c,d*** 4.55 + 0.25d*** 4.22 + 0.21
Ball-15m (m  s71) 3.82 + 0.22c,d*** 3.79 + 0.32c,d*** 3.41 + 0.32 3.04 + 0.21d**

Notes: aSignificantly different from senior males. bSignificantly different from junior males. cSignificantly different from senior females.
d
Significantly different from junior females. *P 5 0.05; **P 5 0.01; ***P 5 0.001.

and better anthropometric scores than female players P 5 0.0001) for the players as a whole (n ¼ 68).
for both competitive standards. Group comparisons When considering pooled data, Agility-15m was
are presented in Tables I and II. highly correlated with Ball-15m (r ¼ 0.76,
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Senior male players recorded a Yo-YoIR1 perfor- P 5 0.001). Analysis by gender revealed a significant
mance 97% better than that of the senior females relationship between these two variables for the
(P 5 0.001). The corresponding comparison be- females only (r ¼ 0.61, P 5 0.001).
tween junior males and females showed an even
greater difference (153%, P 5 0.001). Vertical jump
Discussion
performance was 33.9 and 31.7% higher in senior
males than senior females for the CMJ and ACMJ This is the first study to examine selected fitness
respectively (P 5 0.001). The CMJ and ACMJ were characteristics of male and female football players of
54.7 and 56.4% higher in junior male than junior different ages and competitive standards within a
females (P 5 0.001), respectively. Sprint-15m speed single research design. In line with our working
for senior males was 13.6% faster than for senior hypothesis, the main finding of this research was the
females (P 5 0.001), while junior males were 16.2% existence of gender- and age-specific differences in
faster than junior females (P 5 0.001). Senior males fitness prerequisites of football players.
were 12.0 and 13.0% faster than senior females Results showed that the ability to perform inter-
(P 5 0.001) in Agility-15m and Ball-15m, respec- mittent high-intensity exercise for prolonged periods
tively. Junior males were 24.7 and 15.9% faster than of time, as measured by the Yo-YoIR1, constitutes a
junior females (P 5 0.001) in Agility-15m and Ball- discriminative variable both in women’s and men’s
15m, respectively. Ball-15m was 25.7 and 22.5% football. Recently, the Yo-YoIR1 has been reported
slower than Agility-15m in senior and junior males, to be related to the ability to perform bouts of high-
respectively (P ¼ 0.50). The corresponding values intensity exercise during men’s and women’s football
were 25.0 and 28.0% slower for senior and junior (Krustrup et al., 2003, 2005). Consequently, the
females, respectively (P 5 0.001). better Yo-YoIR1 performance found in senior
Significant correlations (P 5 0.001) were found female and male players compared with their junior
between Yo-YoIR1 performance and vertical jump counterparts reveals the need to possess a high level
performances (r ¼ 0.84 and r ¼ 0.80 for CMJ and of specific endurance to compete professionally in
ACMJ, respectively) when considering pooled data both sexes. Differences based on competitive stan-
(n ¼ 68; Figures 1 and 2). Analysis by gender (senior dard were greater in the females, with Yo-YoIR1
and junior males combined and senior and junior performance being 48% higher in senior than in
females combined) showed significance to be main- junior females; the difference in Yo-YoIR1 perfor-
tained for the females only (r ¼ 0.63, P 5 0.0001, mance between senior and junior males was much
n ¼ 34). Yo-YoIR1 performance was related to sum less (15%).
of skinfolds (r ¼ 70.77, P 5 0.0001), body mass, Differences in Yo-YoIR1 performance have been
and height (r ¼ 0.67 and r ¼ 0.72, respectively, reported to depend on training status, period of the
P 5 0.0001). season, and explosive strength of the lower limbs in
Fifteen-metre sprint speed was significantly corre- male football players (Castagna, Impellizzeri,
lated with Agility-15m performance when consider- Chamari, Carlomagno, & Rampinini, 2006;
ing pooled data (r ¼ 0.79, P 5 0.001, n ¼ 68). Krustrup et al., 2003). In the present study, the
Analysis by gender showed a significant relationship senior female players were only able to cover half the
for females only (r ¼ 0.63, P 5 0.001, n ¼ 34). A distance covered by their male counterparts in the
significant relationship was also found between Yo-YoIR1. The gender difference in Yo-YoIR1
Sprint-15m and Ball-15m performance (r ¼ 0.70, performance was even higher between the junior
 Gender differences in football 111

males and females (153%, P 5 0.001). This remark- (Figure 3). Heterogeneity of the data might be con-
able difference between the sexes may partly explain sidered responsible for the strong correlation in the
the reported difference in high-intensity activities in pooled data.
elite female football match-play (Krustrup et al., In this study, the pooled data analyses revealed
2005) with respect to the men’s game. Moreover, that Yo-YoIR1 performance was negatively related to
this gender gap is much wider than that expected sum of skinfolds (r ¼ 70.77, P 5 0.0001) but
from a simple analysis of male and female world positively related to body mass and height (r ¼ 0.67
records in endurance events, which amounts to and 0.72, respectively, P 5 0.0001). Thus, it might
approximately 10% (Cheuvront, Carter, Deruisseau, be suggested that body composition plays a role in
& Moffatt, 2005; Sparling, O’Donnell, & Snow, intermittent high-intensity, predominantly aerobic
1998). This finding probably reflects the much lower performance (Krustrup et al., 2006) in football
level of development of female football endurance players. In this regard, lean body mass seems to
performance in the context in which this study was affect the distance covered in the Yo-YoIR1, lending
performed. an anthropometric-based explanation to the ob-
The difference in Yo-YoIR1 performance between served lower performance in the female groups.
the male juniors and seniors (15.4%) was higher than In light of the results of this study, Yo-YoIR1
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that reported by Mohr and colleagues (Mohr, performance in the range of 2400 and 1200 m may
Krustrup, & Bangsbo, 2003) when comparing be considered the reference standard for male and
professional top-class and sub-elite football players female First Division football players, respectively.
(10.7%). This result may be regarded as a conse- Due to its relationship with match activities
quence of differences in training and competitive (Krustrup & Bangsbo, 2001; Krustrup et al., 2003;
experience (i.e. age). Distances covered during the Mohr, Ellingsgaard, Andersson, Bangsbo, &
Yo-YoIR1 at this particular time of the football Krustrup, 2004) and the findings of this study, the
season clearly show that both the senior and junior Yo-YoIR1 should be considered by football
males possessed a well-developed intermittent spe- coaches and fitness trainers for talent selection and
cific endurance (Krustrup et al., 2003; Mohr et al., development.
2003). Vertical jump height has been considered a
Female players in the present study covered less relevant performance index in men’s football (Wisl-
distance in the Yo-YoIR1 than professional female øff, Castagna, Helgerud, Jones, & Hoff, 2004).
first division players from the Danish League (mean Furthermore, Arnason et al. (2004) showed that
1379 m, range 600–1960 m) during the competitive vertical jump performance may be considered as a
season (Krustrup et al., 2005). The difference in discriminating variable in male football players of
Yo-YoIR1 performance (48.2%) between senior and different competitive standard. In this study, a
junior females was significantly higher than that gender effect was observed, but no significant
between the two groups of males. Nevertheless, difference in either CMJ or ACMJ performance
Yo-YoIR1 has been reported to be similarly related was evident between junior and senior males. On the
to high-intensity running in both female and male other hand, senior female players performed
football players (Krustrup et al., 2003, 2005). This
important performance difference suggests that the
gap in fitness requirements between competitive
standards in this context is currently much wider in
women’s than in men’s football.
Castagna et al. (2006) reported that lower-limb
explosiveness (i.e. CMJ performance) was related to
Yo-YoIR1 performance in non-elite male football
players. In contrast, Yo-YoIR1 performance in the
present study was strongly related to vertical jump
performances in female players only (Figures 1 and
2). This may partly explain the observed difference in
Yo-YoIR1 performance between senior and junior
females, which paralleled vertical jump performance.
Analysis of pooled male and female data showed that
Yo-YoIR1 performance was significantly related to
CMJ and ACMJ performance (r ¼ 0.84 and 0.80
Figure 3. Correlation between Yo-YoIR1 and CMJ performance
respectively, P 5 0.001), suggesting a performance in male (r ¼ 0.13, P 4 0.05) and female (r ¼ 0.60, P 5 0.001)
level above which further lower-limb explosive- players. Pooled data correlation was significant (r ¼ 0.84,
ness may result in no effect on the Yo-YoIR1 test P 5 0.00001).
 112 I. Mujika et al.

significantly better than junior females in both the differences in sprint performance have been reported
CMJ and ACMJ. These findings are in line with to be evident only for sprint distances that exceed
those of Todd and colleagues (Todd, Scott, & 5 m in elite football players (Todd et al., 2002).
Chisnall, 2002), who reported a significant difference Indeed, the supposed ability of sprint tests over
in vertical jump performance in English domestic shorter distances to help detect football talent (Reilly
league female players. Vertical jump height may thus et al., 2000) as a general rule may be questioned.
be considered as a discriminating variable only in Agility, which can be defined as the ability to
female players, as junior elite male players possess rapidly change direction, has been reported to be
vertical jump abilities similar to those displayed by influenced by explosive strength, balance, muscular
professional players competing in one of the world’s coordination, and flexibility (Sheppard & Young,
most demanding domestic championships. 2006). Reilly et al. (2000) suggested agility perfor-
Competitive standard-matched gender differences mance as a physiological prerequisite in football,
in vertical jump performance varied between seniors given that players are frequently involved in sudden
and juniors. Differences in vertical jump perfor- directional changes in order to be effective during the
mance in the juniors (males vs. females) were game. In the present study, agility was assessed as
significantly higher than in the seniors (males vs. time taken during a 15-m slalom test. Agility-15m
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females). Specifically, the difference in performance performance was shown to be related to gender and
between the juniors and seniors was in the range of competitive standard; that is, male and senior players
55–56% and 32–34% for CMJ and ACMJ, respec- were more effective in slalom running. This finding
tively (P 5 0.0001). Helgerud and colleagues supports the idea that the ability to perform sudden
(Helgerud, Engen, Wisløff, & Hoff, 2001) reported changes of direction should be considered as a
less of a CMJ difference (20%) between elite characteristic of professional football. Indeed, several
Norwegian female and male football players. These studies have previously shown that agility perfor-
differences in vertical jump performance clearly show mance should be regarded as an independent
marked gender differences in explosive power, which physiological variable in male football players
are especially evident at junior level. This suggests (Buttifant, Graham, & Cross, 2002; Little &
that coaches and fitness trainers should consider Williams, 2005; Wisløff et al., 2004). Furthermore,
specific explosive strength training when dealing with agility was shown to be related to total match distance
prospective female football players. in female varsity football players (Kirkendall,
Sprint ability over short distances has also been Leonard, & Garrett, 2004). Gender differences in
reported to be a fitness prerequisite for professional agility based on competitive standard were signifi-
footballers (Reilly et al., 2000; Stølen et al., 2005). cantly different across the groups, being 13 and 16%
Cometti and colleagues (Cometti, Maffiuletti, for the seniors and juniors, respectively (P 5 0.001).
Pousson, Chatard, & Maffulli, 2001) showed that This demonstrates that gender differences in agility
professional male football players were faster over decrease as competitive standard increases.
10 m than amateur players. In the present study, we In this study, significant relationships were found
did not confirm those findings. These conflicting between Sprint-15m and Agility-15m in the female
results were also observed in women’s football. players only (r ¼ 0.63, P 5 0.0001). This finding is in
Indeed, although gender differences were evident, line with those of Little and Williams (2005), who
no significant difference between competitive stan- reported a low coefficient of determination between
dards was found within either males or females (see agility test performance and linear sprint perfor-
Table II). The lack of a difference in sprint mance in male professional players. As a conse-
performance found in this study was probably due quence, it could be speculated that agility should be
to population characteristics (elite junior vs. profes- improved with specific training programmes
sional players compared with Cometti et al., 2001) (Polman, Walsh, Bloomfield, & Nesti, 2004), be-
and/or differences in test procedures. cause it is a specific ability that improves as
These findings are in line with a recent study competitive standard increases (Young, McDowell,
by Vaeyens et al. (2006), who reported an age- & Scarlett, 2001). At present, it is unclear what is the
dependent effect of sprint performance in male youth most effective training method (Sheppard & Young,
football players. Specifically, sprint abilities were 2006) to improve agility performance. It could be
found to discriminate between competitive standards speculated that in football, as in most team sports,
only when addressing pre-adolescent players (i.e. agility training should involve technical and tactical
under 13–14 years players). Todd et al. (2002) elements of the game, thereby also stressing cognitive
reported no competitive standard difference in sprint functions (Sheppard, Young, Doyle, Sheppard, &
performance in female adult football players (age 21– Newton, 2006).
23 years) with at least 9 years of experience of Ball drills similar to Ball-15m have been used in
regional to international competition. Gender football studies to assess technical skills in players of
 Gender differences in football 113

different competitive standards (Ekblom, 1986; play football is small compared with the number of
Helgerud et al., 2001; Rosch et al., 2000). In the males (Reilly, 2003). However, with this research
present study, Ball-15m performance was shown to design it is not possible to shed light on the possible
be related to competitive standard in female football selection aspects in women’s football.
players only. Moreover, Ball-15m versus Agility-15m In summary, this study reports for the first time
speed decrements were significantly higher in junior peculiarities in fitness requirements in order to play
than in senior players (25 vs. 28%, P 5 0.001). This football at a professional level in both males and
suggests that junior female players possess less females. In particular, agility and specific endurance
dribbling skill than professional players. Although appear to be major factors that stress gender and age
no information about the possible relation between differences. Further studies are required to investi-
Ball-15m performance and game performance is gate the possible effect of training loads on fitness
available, it could be speculated that physical development and the effect of fitness level on match
performance as well as technical skill are necessary performance across the sexes, competitive standards,
to compete at a professional level in men’s football. and age groups.
Ball-15m was shown to be strongly related to
agility performance (r ¼ 0.76, P 5 0.0001) when
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