Gonçalves, B, Esteves, P, Folgado, H, Ric, A, Torrents, C, and Sampaio, J. Effects of pitch area-restrictions on tactical behavior, physical and physiological performances in soccer large-sided games. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2398–2408, 2017—The aim of this study was to identify how pitch area-restrictions affect the tactical behavior, physical, and physiological performances of players during soccer large-sided games. A 10 vs. 9 large-sided game was performed under 3 experimental conditions: (a) restricted-spacing, the pitch was divided into specific areas where players were assigned and they should not leave it; (b) contiguous-spacing, the pitch was divided into specific areas where the players were only allowed to move to a neighboring one; (c) free-spacing, the players had no restrictions in space occupation. The positional data were used to compute players' spatial exploration index and also the distance, coefficient of variation, approximate entropy, and frequency of near-in-phase displacements synchronization of players' dyads formed by the outfield teammates. Players' physical and physiological performances were assessed by the distance covered at different speed categories, game pace, and heart rate. Most likely higher values were found in players' spatial exploration index under free-spacing conditions. The synchronization between dyads' displacements showed higher values for contiguous-spacing and free-spacing conditions. In contrast, for the jogging and running intensity zones, restricted-spacing demanded a moderate effect and most likely decrease compared with other scenarios (∼20–50% to jogging and ∼60–90% to running). Overall, the effects of limiting players' spatial exploration greatly impaired the coadaptation between teammates' positioning while decreasing the physical and physiological performances. These results allow for a better understanding of players' decision-making process according to specific task rules and can be relevant to enrich practice task design, such that coaches acknowledge the differential effect by using specific pitch-position area restrictions.

Study was to measure differences in the cardiovascular workload (heart rate [HR]) and time-motion demands between positional groups, during numerous basketball training drills, and compare the results with in-game competition demands. A convenience sample of 14 top-level professional basketball players from the same club (Spanish First Division, ACB) participated in the study. A total of 146 basketball exercises per player (performed over an 8-week period in 32 team training sessions throughout the competitive season) and 7 friendly matches (FM) played during the preparatory phase were analyzed. The results reveal that HRavg and HRpeak were the highest in FM (158 ± 10; 198 ± 9 b·min−1, respectively). Time-motion analysis showed 1v1 to be the most demanding drill (53 ± 8 and 46 ± 12 movements per minute for full and half court, respectively). During FM, players performed 33 ± 7 movements per minute. Positional differences exist for both HR and time-motion demands, ranging from moderate to very large for all basketball drills compared with FM. Constraints such as number of players, court size, work-to-rest ratios, and coach intervention are key factors influencing cardiovascular responses and time-motion demands during basketball training sessions. These results demonstrate that systematic monitoring of the physical demands and physiological responses during training and competition can inform and potentially improve coaching strategy, basketball-specific training drills, and ultimately, match performance....

The effects that different constraints have on the exploratory behavior, measured by the variety and quantity of different responses within a game situation, is of the utmost importance for successful performance in team sports. The aim of this study was to determine how the number of teammates and opponents affects the exploratory behavior of both professional and amateur players in small-sided soccer games. Twenty-two professional (age 25.6 ± 4.9 years) and 22 amateur (age 23.1 ± 0.7 years) male soccer players played three small-sided game formats (4 vs. 3, 4 vs. 5, and 4 vs. 7). These trials were video-recorded and a systematic observation instrument was used to notate the actions, which were subsequently analyzed by means of a principal component analysis and the dynamic overlap order parameter (measure to identify the rate and breadth of exploratory behavior on different time scales). Results revealed that a higher the number of opponents required for more frequent ball controls. Moreover, with a higher number of teammates, there were more defensive actions focused on protecting the goal, with more players balancing. In relation to attack, an increase in the number of opponents produced a decrease in passing, driving and controlling actions, while an increase in the number of teammates led to more time being spent in attacking situations. A numerical advantage led to less exploratory behavior, an effect that was especially clear when playing within a team of seven players against four opponents. All teams showed strong effects of the number of teammates on the exploratory behavior when comparing 5 vs 7 or 3 vs 7 teammates. These results seem to be independent of the players’ level.

The analysis of positional data in association football allows the spatial distribution of players during matches to be described in order to improve the understanding of tactical-related constraints on the behavioural dynamics of players. The aim of this study was to identify how players’ spatial restrictions affected the exploratory tactical behaviour and constrained the perceptual-motor workspace of players in possession of the ball, as well as inter-player passing interactions. Nineteen professional outfield male players were divided into two teams of 10 and 9 players, respectively. The game was played under three spatial constraints: a) players were not allowed to move out of their allocated zones, except for the player in possession of the ball; b) players were allowed to move to an adjacent zone, and; c) non-specific spatial constraints. Positional data was captured using a 5 Hz interpolated GPS tracking system and used to define the configuration states of players for each second in time. The configuration state comprised 37 categories derived from tactical actions, distance from the nearest opponent, distance from the target and movement speed. Notational analysis of players in possession of the ball allowed the mean time of ball possession and the probabilities of passing the ball between players to be calculated. The results revealed that the players’ long-term exploratory behaviour decreased and their short-term exploration increased when restricting their space of interaction. Relaxing players’ positional constraints seemed to increase the speed of ball flow dynamics. Allowing players to move to an adjacent sub-area increased the probabilities of interaction with the full-back during play build-up. The instability of the coordinative state defined by being free from opponents when players had the ball possession was an invariant feature under all three task constraints. By allowing players to move to adjacent sub-areas, the coordinative state became highly unstable when the distance from the target decreased. Ball location relative to the scoring zone and interpersonal distance constitute key environmental information that constrains the players’ coordinative behaviour. Based on our results, dynamic overlap is presented as a good option to capture tactical performance. Moreover, the selected collective (i.e. relational) variables would allow coaches to identify the effects of training drills on teams and players’ behaviour. More research is needed considering these type variables to understand how the manipulation of constraints induce a more stable or flexible dynamical structure of tactical behaviour.

The aim of this study was to identify the dynamics of tactical behaviour emerging on different timescales in football small-sided games and to quantify short- and long-term exploratory behaviour according to the number of opponents. Two teams of four professional male footballers played small-sided games against two different teams with a variable number of opponents (3, 5 and 7). Data were collected using a combination of systematic observation and a non-differential global positioning system (15 Hz). The temporal diversity and structural flexibility of the players were determined by calculating the dynamic overlap order parameter q, entropy and trapping strength. Analysis of the exploratory dynamics revealed two different timescales, forming a different metastable landscape of action for each constraint. Fast dynamics lasted on average a few seconds and consisted of changes in tactical patterns. The long timescale corresponded to the shared tasks of offence and defence lasting tens of seconds. The players’ tactical diversity decreased with an increasing number of opponents, especially in defence. Manipulating numerical imbalance is likely to promote changes in the diversity, unpredictability and flexibility of tactical solutions. The fact that the temporally nested structure of constraints shaped the emergence of tactical behaviour provides a new rationale for practice task design. The manipulation of numerical imbalance on the timescale of a few tens of seconds, on which the exploratory behaviour of players saturates, may help coaches to optimise the exploratory efficiency of the small-sided games.