Dr.Hab., Professor I.G. Maksimenko¹
PhD, Associate Professor I.Y. Voronin¹
PhD, Associate Professor M.P. Spirin¹
I.A. Rutskoy^1
1Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod

Keywords: analysis, control, fitness, rates, test, technical fitness, female footballers.

Background. Presently the national women's football specialists are giving a high priority to the initiatives geared to improve the junior players’ long-term training process efficiency [2, 4, 6]. The leading experts believe that a prudent set of technical mastery rating criteria is crucial in any efficiency improvement solution [3, 5, 7]. It is a matter of common knowledge that the high physical fitness rates associated with high technical and tactical mastery levels help the players mobilise their resources in competitions and facilitate their persistent progress in the long-term training process [3, 4, 5]. Our analysis of the recent study reports and reference literature shows that the study subject is still underexplored and the available findings are somewhat contradictory [1, 2, 6].

Objective of the study was to find a set of female footballers’ technical mastery rating criteria for different skill levels and apply the criteria to improve the training process control efficiency.

Methods and structure of the study. For the purposes of the study, we tested technical progress of 252 female footballers including 30 Masters of Sport, 48 Candidate Masters of Sport, 56 Class I Athletes, 54 Class II Athletes and 64 Class III Athletes. We used the methods of theoretical data analysis, synthesis and summation, performance tests, educational surveys and mathematical statistics data processing toolkit to analyse the footballers’ training process, with a special emphasis on the technical progress of the subjects.

Study results and discussion. To profile the technical progress of the Class III to Master of Sports qualified footballers, we applied the following tests commonly accepted by modern football specialists (see Table 1): 30 m dribble, s; juggling, reps per min|ˉ¹; shots on target, reps; long throw-ins, m; dribbling with shot on goal, s; and long shots, m.

Table 1. Footballers’ technical fitness test rates versus their qualifications

The study has confirmed the commonly acknowledged regularity that a reasonably designed training system gives the means to secure persistent technical progress of footballers as verified by the relevant test rates. Tests under the study showed the following: 30 m dribble tests showed progress of the Class III to Class II Athletes by 0.35 s; Class II to Class I Athletes by 0.23 s; and Class I Athletes to MS by 0.21 s; with the data arrays for the close qualifications being significantly different (р<0.05). The qualification-specific tests showed statistically significant (р<0.05) differences of the test rates in the juggling, shots on target and long throw-in tests. The ball juggling test, for instance, yielded the following results: Class III: 11,8±0,95; Class II: 22,4±1,27; Class I: 65,2±1,86; CMS: 91,7±1,58; and MS: 108,4±1,46 reps per min|ˉ¹. The dribbling with shot on goal and long shot tests also showed growth of the qualification-specific test rates. The dribbling with shot on goal test, for instance, yielded the following results: Class III: 8,54±0,04; Class II: 8,19±0,03; Class I: 7,76±0,04; CMS: 7,65±0,03; and MS: 7,34±0,02 s; with no statistically significant difference found between the test data arrays of the Class I and CMS Athletes.

Conclusion

1. Initiatives to ensure harmonised progress of the junior footballers’ physical qualities and technical and tactical skills is ranked among the top priority components of the long-term training systems. Due emphasis should be made on the qualification-specific technical progress tests since some progress aspects are still underexplored as yet.

2. The experimental data and analyses made it possible to identify the qualification-specific progress test rates to profile the technical skills improvement processes in Class III Athletes to Masters of Sport (see Table 1). We found that the trainees’ progress may be effectively profiled by the following technical progress tests: 30 m dribble; juggling,| shots on target, long throw-ins, dribbling with shot on goal, and long shot tests.

3. The technical progress test rates need to be widely applied to effectively control and manage progress of the female footballers versus their qualifications. Prudently selected and designed progress test criteria provide a sound basis for the key missions and goals of a long-term athletic training system and its training stages being fulfilled and attained, with a due emphasis on the training process intensity management component. The experimental study data and analyses confirmed the applied technical progress tests being beneficial for the junior female footballers’ training process design and management.

References

1. Maksimenko I.G. Sorevnovatelnaya i trenirovochnaya deyatelnost futbolistov [Competitive and training activities of footballers]. Lugansk: Znanie publ., 2009, 258 p.
2. Maksimenko I.G., Voronkov A.V., Zhilina L.V. Sravnitelny analiz osobennostey mnogoletney podgotovki yunykh sportsmenov v igrovykh i tsiklicheskikh vidakh sporta [Comparative analysis of peculiarities of long-term training in youth competitive and cyclic sports]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 1, pp. 11–13.
3. Matveyev L.P. Obshchaya teoriya sporta i ee prikladnye aspekty [General theory of sport and its applied aspects]. Moscow: Izvestiya publ., 2001, 333 p.
4. Nikitushkin V.G., Kvashuk P.V., Bauer V.G. Organizatsionno-metodicheskie osnovy podgotovki sportivnogo rezerva [Organizational and methodological basics for sports reserve athletes' training]. Moscow: Sov. sport publ., 2005, 229 p.
5. Platonov V.N. Sistema podgotovki sportsmenov v olimpiyskom sporte. Obshchaya teoriya i ee prakticheskie prilozheniya [Sports training system in Olympic sport. General theory and its practical applications]. Kiev: Olimp. lit. publ., 2015, book 1, 2015, 680 p.
6. Arcelli E., Ferretti F. Calcio. Preparazione atletica. IV Edizione, Milano: Editoriale Sport Italia, 2004, 134 p.
7. Bompa T.O., Haff G.G. Periodization: Theory and methodology of training. [5th Edition]. Champaign, IL, USA: Human Kinetics, 2009, 280 p.

Corresponding author: maksimenko_76@mail.ru   

Abstract

Presently high priority is being given by the national women's football sport specialists to the initiatives to find the ways to improve the junior players’ long-term training process efficiency. The leading experts believe that a prudent set of technical mastery rating criteria is crucial in any efficiency improvement solution. It is a matter of common knowledge that the high physical fitness rates associated with high technical and tactical mastery levels help the players mobilise their resources in competitions and facilitate further progress in the long-term training process. Our analysis of the recent study reports and reference literature shows that the study subject is still underexplored and the available findings are somewhat contradictory. Objective of the study was to find a set of female footballers’ technical mastery rating criteria for different skill levels and apply the criteria to provide more efficient training process control. We used the methods of theoretical data analysis, synthesis and summation, performance tests, educational surveys and mathematical statistical data processing tools to develop the set of female footballers’ technical mastery rating criteria for different skill levels from Class III to Master of Sport. The set of the technical mastery rating criteria will be applied to establish reference points in the long-term training system design and organisation process. The study also verified the efficiency and relevance of the rating tests applied for the purposes of the study.