Technical staff structure, planning methods, methodological practices and load management in soccer

Abstract

Soccer performance depends on several interrelated factors regarding technical, tactical, physical and psychological areas. Over the last decades there was an increase in match congestion.The increased match frequency and the associated injury risk have highlighted the importance of physical condition, increasing the need to implement new training methodologies with a special focus on load and fatigue management, as well as non-specific complementary training.The main objective of this study was to provide information on the structure and characteristics of the technical staffs, the methodological training practices, as well as the workload and fatigue control methods used in soccer, examining possible differences based on gender, category and competitive level. 190 soccer teams from 20 different countries participated in the study, by answering a survey.The results reveal that there are differences in the structure of the technical staff, the planning models, the methodology and the workload control depending on the category and the competitive level. Gender only appears as a discriminating variable, in relation to the most used complementary training contents.The weekly microcycle is the preferred planning model (80.89%), regardless the competitive level. However, in lower categories, medium and long term periodization are also used (23.80%). The weekly volume of complementary training increases as category (p=0.000) and competitive level (p=0.000) does. Strength training is the most used nonspecific content (84.89%). However, its importance is reduced in lower categories (38.5%). Load and fatigue control are only extended among teams of superior category (p=0.000) and competitive level (p=0.000).