Proposals and effects of training using small-sided games for young soccer players: a narrative review

Abstract

Aim: This review article aimed to search for studies that used SSG as an intervention in order to verify the effects of physical and tactical performance in young soccer players and to make a critical analysis in the literature of how small games are proposed, how they are controlled and how they affect the performance of soccer players in the short and medium term. Methods: In this narrative review, we searched four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus), in total, 242 studies were found. In the end, only eight studies were used in this review. Results: Four studies were comparisons between SSG and traditional methods; one study compared different types of SSG; one study compared the intensity of small-sided games with official games and another two made comparisons of physical performance between different categories. All the studies had as a central point to make comparisons in relation to the physical performance and none of them, longitudinally, evaluated the tactical performance using the SSG as an intervention. Conclusions: The use of SSG, mainly in 3×3 (dimensions between 20×25 m and 27×36 m) and 4×4 (30×35 m to 30×40 m) between 3 and 5 sessions per week for at least one month, seems to have beneficial effects concerning physical performance for young athletes. It was verified the scarcity of studies that approach the tactical performance with the use of SSG, in addition, some studies were unclear about the frequency of SSG types during the intervention time.