To Ensure Peak Velocity in Soccer, Coaches Should Stimulate Players to Run
(David Casamichana, Eider Barba, Andres Martín-García, Fábio Yuzo Nakamura, Julen Castellano)

The aim of this study was to compare the peak velocities reached by professional soccer players during multiple training tasks and friendly matches, taking into account players’ positions. Global positioning system data were obtained from twenty-three soccer players (age: 24.8 ± 4.1 years; body height: 180.3 ± 6.3 cm; body mass: 75.7 ± 5.0 kg) who played for the same professional first division team of the Spanish league (La Liga). The peak of velocity (km·h−1) of ten different training tasks was analyzed according to the players’ position. The results showed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the peak velocity reached by players in the different tasks studied: 1) velocity task (VE, n = 58) > tactical velocity task (TVE, n = 53), friendly match (FM, n = 231) > large-sided game (LSG, n = 146) > medium-sided game (MSG, n = 273) > evolution task (EVO, n = 381), high interval intensity training (HIIT, n = 227), small-sided game (SSG, n = 407) > large-sided ball-possession game (LSBPG, n = 227) > small-sided ball-possession game (SSBPG, n = 316) and, 2) that in the tasks with lower peak velocities (MSG, EVO, HIIT, SSG, LSBPG and SSBPG), no differences were found in their positions. Therefore, different training tasks create different peak velocity demands, and tasks with higher peak velocities and role-specificity (TVE, FM, LSG, and MSG) require different needs from players in different positions.