Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 21-24). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

Prestation i fotboll beror på många olika fysiska faktorer som exempelvis styrka, uthållighet och snabbhet. Snabbheten kan delas upp i många olika faktorer exempelvis sprinter rakt fram och agility. Det finns även något som kallas reaktiv agility vilket betyder att man reagerar på ett visuellt stimuli och därefter reagerar med ett beslut. En förmåga som verkar bli mer central i fotbollen. Syftet med denna studie var att utvärdera ett kort träningsprograms påverkan på de olika snabbhetsfaktorerna, raka sprint, agility och reaktiv agility samt beräkna korrelationer mellan de olika variablerna. Metod: Före- och eftertester gjordes på 19 ungdomar från svenska U17 allsvenskan. Testpersonerna delades därefter upp i en interventionsgrupp(IG)(N=9) och en kontrollgrupp(KG)(N=10). Testerna som utfördes var Reactive agility test(RAT), Agility 5-0-5 och 10- 20- 30 meter sprint. IG fick efter testerna utföra ett träningspass i veckan under fem veckor bestående av två parövningar med fokus på reaktionssnabbhet, sprint och agility. Resultat: Inga statistisk signifikanta skillnader fanns mellan grupperna efter träningsperioden. Konklusion: Resultaten pekade mot att interventionsprogrammet inte hade någon påverkan. Däremot går det att ifrågasätta resultatet då eftertesterna utfördes på ett mindre bra sätt. / Performance in soccer can be defined in various different factors, like strength, endurance and quickness. Quickness can be divined in different sub factors for example straight sprints and agility. There is also something called reactive agility, which means that you react to a visual stimulus and therefore react and take a decision. The purpose: of this study was to investigate the effects of a short training programme that focus on the different quickness factors, straight sprints, agility and reactive agility. Method: Pre- and post-tests were made on 19 adolescents from the Swedish U17 Allsvenskan. The subjects were later divided into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). The performed tests were: reactive agility test (RAT), agility 5-0-5 and 10- 20- 30 m sprint. After the tests the IG performed a five week long training programme containing two different duo exercises with focus on reaction ability, agility and sprint. Result: No statistical significant difference was detected between the groups after the training period in any of the tested variables. Conclusion: The results suggest that the intervention programme had no effect. It can, however, be challenged due to methodological issues that occurred during testing.

Background: Small-sided games are frequently used as a training method in today´s football. The importance of the ability to perform high-intensity running is increasing and small-sided games may not lead to the required improvement of this ability. It might be necessary to add speed-endurance training to obtain the high-intensity running. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate which of the training methods; small-sided games or speed-endurance training, leads to the highest performance improvements in three football-specific tests. Measures and Methods: The study was an intervention study where 31 male football players participated. They were randomized in to two groups which performed either speed-endurance training (SEP) (n=16) or small-sided games (SSG) 6 vs 6 (n=15). The study lasted four weeks and eleven sessions in total. Baseline tests and posttraining test were conducted in Yo-Yo IR2, Arrowhead agility test and Repeated sprint 30 meters. Result: SEP demonstrated an 17 % higher increase in testresults than SSG in Yo-Yo IR2. No significant difference between the groups were observed in the other tests. Conclusion: Small-sided games is a training method which entails football-specific training load. It might be necessary to add speed-endurance training which can lead to higher performance improvments in Yo-Yo IR2.

Author: Bc. Ondřej Martínek Title: Physical activity and its quality in children with ADHD Objectives: The aim of the theoretical part of the work was to process the issue of ADHD, especially in children of younger school age. The work also aimed to present the possibilities of testing and therapy in physiotherapeutic practice. The aim of the practical part was to obtain information about the subjective evaluation of children's motor skills by the DCDQ questionnaire from the point of view of their parents, to get an idea of leisure activities and physiotherapy care and to compare test results (One Leg Stance Test and The Ladder Agility Test) of experimental group with control group. Methods: The research group consisting of 22 probands and the control group of 25 probands completed 2 standardized tests (The Ladder Agility Test, One Leg Stance Test). Their parents completed The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire and answered 2 open questions. The obtained data were evaluated in Microsoft Excel. A two-sample t-test (Welch version) was used for statistical processing. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the evaluation of probands by their parents with the ADHD questionnaire, but in practical motor tests no significant differences were found between the...

Cette thèse s’adresse aussi bien aux scientifiques, aux entraîneurs, aux préparateurs physiques et aux sportifs souhaitant approfondir leurs connaissances de l’activité football. Les aspects scientifiques abordés ainsi que leur transposition en outils de terrain pourront être utilisés comme moyen d’évaluation et d’orientation des séances d’entraînement. Ainsi, au travers de ce travail, nous avons abordé le ratio entre le temps de travail et le temps de récupération réalisés en matches de très haut niveau dans le Championnat de Première Division Italienne au cours de la saison 2004/2005. Ce ratio moyen de compétition est de 1/8, à savoir 2.2 secondes d’effort et 18 secondes de récupération. La deuxième partie de ce travail consistait à analyser l’évolution du profil d’effort et la possession de balle collective de footballeurs de très haut niveau au cours de trois saisons consécutives avec un effectif et un staff technique stables. L’étude a permis de mettre en avant une diminution de la quantité d’effort produite par les joueurs de l’ordre de 5% sans altération de la performance ainsi que l’augmentation de la possession de balle collective. La troisième et dernière partie a été de créer et d’analyser un test d’agilité spécifique à l’activité football. Après, une analyse complète des différents éléments liés à la reproductibilité et à la validité du test, il s’avère que ce test semble rendre compte de l’activité motrice du footballeur. De plus, les mesures réalisées dans le cadre de ce travail ont permis de fournir les premières normes de performance qui peuvent être attendues en fonction de l’âge du joueur et de son niveau de jeu. Au terme de notre travail, nous pouvons conclure que cette thèse a apporté des résultats spécifiques pour orienter l’entraînement athlétique du footballeur moderne et à proposer un nouvel outil de détection des jeunes footballeurs. / This work is dedicated to scientists, coaches and physical trainers as well as athletes involved in elite soccer activity. The scientific results and their practical applications could be used as a basis for the work of scientists as well as football professionals. The first part of this thesis showed that playing positions significantly influence activity profile. Moreover, this study demonstrated that the work/rest ratio observed in elite soccer Italian Serie A championship attained 1/8 and represented a mean work time of 2.2 seconds for an averaged recovery time of 18 seconds. The second part of this thesis, explored the evolution of activity profile and total ball possession during 3 consecutive seasons in the same elite team. This study has showed how for three consecutive seasons the players of successful Serie-A team reduced their distances performed at submaximal speeds, and increased ball possession while maintaining the distances covered at high/maximal speeds. It is suggested that this is due to a better understanding of tactical roles and team organization. The third part of the thesis tended to develop and to valid a specific agility soccer test composed with fundamental soccer tasks which has to be performed as quickly as possible. The validity and repeatability of the test has been demonstrated and it has been applied on a large population of different ages, positions and levels. As a conclusion, this thesis provided new specific results and perspectives that would influence professional soccer athletic conditioning and that provided a new specific test to detect young soccer players.

Title: Relation between selected off-ice tests and performance in on-ice Illinois Agility test of ice hockey players between 14-17 years old in Czech elite category. Objectives: The main goal of this thesis was to determine whether the somatotype and selected off-ice tests are significant predictors for performance in the on-ice agility test in ice hockey players in the youth elite category. Methods: The research group consisted 28 ice hockey players (8 forwards and 18 defenders) x̅ = 14,88 ± 0,57. Players played highest youth league during the measurement period. The method of Heath and Carter (1990) was used to determine the somatotype. Squat Jump, Countermovement Jump, Free Arm Countermovement Jump, Sit and Reach, pull-ups and off- ice Illinois Agility with a ball were used as off-ice tests. The Aspin-Welch two-samle T-test with Effect size (ES) Hedges' g was used to evaluate the degree of difference in performance between forwards and defenders. Pearson's correlation coefficient with ES coefficient of determination R2 was applied to determine the tightness of relationships between selected variables. Evaluation of the significance of predictors for performance in on- ice agility tests was performed through multiple regression analysis. The significance of the model was assessed according to the...

Title: Relation between selected off-ice tests, somatotype and performance in on-ice Illinois Agility tests in junior ice hockey players from Czech elite category. Objective: The aim of this thesis was to verify whether the somatotype and off-ice tests are significant predictors for performance in on-ice agility tests in junior ice hockey players from Czech elite category. Methods: The research sample consisted of 32 junior hockey players (17 defenders and 15 forwards) ̅ = 17.64 ± 1.02 from Czech elite category. The Heath and Carter (1990) method for measuring of somatotype was used. The off-ice tests included Squat Jump, Countermovement Jump, Free Arm Countermovement Jump, Broad Jump, Five-Jump test, Sit and Reach, Pull-ups and off-ice Illinois Agility with (small size) ball. Further, on-ice Illinois Agility with puck and Illinois Agility without puck were used as dependent variables. The differences in performance between defenders and forwards were analysed by Aspin-Welch's two-sample T-test with Effect size (ES) Hedges's g. The degree of significance of the predictors for dependent variables in on- ice agility tests was assessed by multiple regression analysis with significance of model at the level of p<0.05 and ES described as adjusted R2 . Results: Comparison of the results achieved by...

Title: The effect of compensatory exercises in ice hockey players of younger school age with focus on the evaluation of selected parameters of stability, coordination and movement stereotypes Objectives: The objective of this thesis was to verify the effect of compensatory exercises on stability, coordination and movement stereotypes in ice-hockey players of younger school age (8-12 years old). Specifically, the objective was to verify stated effect on dynamic stability, static stability of the trunk, execution of selected stereotypes, coordination and performance in specific test on ice. Methods: Data for this thesis were collected using quantitative form of research. The whole research population was composed of 75 probands with the average age of 10,3 years and who play actively ice-hockey. The population was composed of both sexes, males and females (boys and girls). Participants were divided into two groups - experimental (n = 43) and control (n = 32). To collect the values of measurements was used method of testing with clinical tests and to eliminate disturbing elements we also used the method of questionnaire. The values were collected in input and output sessions. The time spacing between those two measurements was 3 months. Between stated two measurements in experimental group took place...