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- ⚽ Self-Talk Enhances Passing Performance Under Pressure in Football
⚽ Self-Talk Enhances Passing Performance Under Pressure in Football
PLUS: Position Games Yield Different Demands Compared to Matches in Football
Haresh Suppiah
April 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
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Welcome, science enthusiasts.
In today’s edition:
• Assessing running demands in soccer games
• Effects of self-talk on passing performance
• Running performance prediction with smartwatches
• Experiences of elite female hockey players regarding parenthood
• Nonoperative treatment outcomes for chronic tennis elbow
and several more…
FEATURED ARTICLES 🌭
Key finding:
Combining emotion- and action-centered self-talk significantly enhances passing performance under pressure in elite football players.
How they did it:
Methodology: The study involved 20 male junior football players, age 18.6 on average, from Finland’s elite league who underwent two rounds of a passing task while employing different self-talk strategies over three sessions in adverse weather conditions (snow and ice).
Results: The use of strategic self-talk significantly enhanced passing performance, with the preferred-strategy group achieving a mean score of 5.50 out of 10 in the final trial, compared to 4.40 from the combined-strategy group, highlighting a substantial improvement (Cohen’s d=0.90).
Emotional Assessment: Participants experienced a positive correlation between applied effort in self-talk strategies and performance, where higher effectiveness ratings of the self-talk cues were associated with better performance scores (r=.659, p=.002).
Innovations: The study introduced the Psychobiosocial States Scale for detailed assessment of athletes’ emotional and cognitive states, aiding in tailoring self-talk strategies specific to individual performance needs.
Practical Application: Insights from the research emphasize the importance of integrating both emotional and action-centered cue words in self-talk, suggesting that athletes could enhance their performance under pressure by utilizing a combined approach.
Why it matters:
These findings highlight how strategic self-talk can enhance passing performance in elite football players, especially under pressure. Impressively, 95% of participants improved their passing accuracy when using self-talk combined with emotion- and action-focused cues, demonstrating a clear technique for coaches and athletes to manage competitive stress and boost performance. Understanding and applying these self-regulation strategies can lead to more effective training and improved outcomes on the field.
Key finding:
Position games impose different running demands than matches, varying by player position and task size.
How they did it:
Methodology: The study included 25 young adult soccer players (average age 21.9 years) assessed during 37 official matches and 18 position games varying in size (small: 50.8 m² per player; medium: 80.5 m²; large: 115.9 m²), using GPS technology to measure several physical metrics, including total distance and intensity of movements.
Results: Matches showed significantly higher metrics across all player positions, such as distance covered at speeds over 21 km/h (averaging 4.64 m/min in matches vs. 1.88 m/min in small games, p < 0.001) and peak speeds (up to 30.96 km/h in matches, p < 0.001), indicating a clear disparity in running demands compared to position games.
Innovation: The study utilized a unique approach of categorizing position games by size and comparing these variations with match performance, revealing that smaller, constrained games led to higher acceleration and deceleration counts compared to matches for certain positions.
Key Findings: Players in fullback and forward positions achieved greater high-intensity movements (ACC >3) during medium and large position games, highlighting that the design of training games significantly affects the physical demands on players, dependent on both drill size and position.
Implication for Training: Coaches should be aware that position games may not replicate match demands accurately, suggesting a tailored approach to incorporating training drills that address both high-intensity accelerations and endurance required in official matches.
Why it matters:
These findings highlight the varied physical demands placed on players during official matches compared to position games, with matches generally requiring higher intensity metrics across all player roles. For instance, players covered significantly higher distances at speeds above 21 km/h during matches than in small-sided games, making it crucial for coaches to tailor training sessions accordingly. This understanding allows coaches to design more effective practice environments that closely mimic the demands of competitive play, helping players better prepare for actual match conditions.
QUICK BITES 🍤
Biomechanics
-Eight weeks of eccentric training at long muscle length increases muscle fascicle length without affecting mechanical properties.
-Triceps surae muscles function effectively across varying lengths, with distinct shear modulus characteristics affecting force production.
Concussion in Sport
-Adolescents with slower reaction times post-concussion may face higher injury risk in the year following their return to play.
Female Athlete
-Manual pelvic floor dysfunction remains underrecognized in female athletes, highlighting the need for improved management strategies in sports medicine.
-Swedish elite female ice hockey players view balancing motherhood and athletic careers as unrealistic due to financial and support challenges.
Injury
-Monitoring the number of decelerations in training can significantly predict injury risk in professional football players.
-A stage-specific treatment regimen effectively helps climbers recover from finger joint capsulitis, allowing them to return to their sport.
-Most patients with persistent tennis elbow improve without surgery, and their optimism is a better predictor of recovery than surgeons’ assessments.
Physical Education and Pedagogy
-Curricular reforms in physical education enhance the understanding of culture, movement, and environment among teachers in Ceará, Brazil.
-Introducing Touchtennis in schools could enhance students’ physical, psychological, and social well-being, warranting further research.
Sport Psychology
-Sport-specific neurocognitive tests better reflect athletes’ performance needs than traditional computer-based assessments.
Sport Technology
-Smartwatches accurately predict running performance, achieving over 97% accuracy for distances up to a half marathon.
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Curated by Haresh Suppiah