Effect of leg dominance on change of direction ability amongst young elite soccer players

Young soccer players often use one particular dominant leg (DL) to perform dynamic movements which require strength, resulting in leg asymmetry. The aim of this study was to compare, in young soccer players, the effect of using DL and non-dominant leg (NDL) on time performance of two change of direction (COD) manoeuvres in several angles of COD. Seventy-three young male soccer players (mean ± SD, age: 16.1 ± 1.8 year) participated in this study. Players performed 10-m sprints, either in a straight line or with a COD (5 m straight ahead and a turn of 45°, 90°, 135° and 180° to the opposite side of the DL or NDL). Testing for COD speed was conducted over two different manoeuvres: (1) sidestepping and (2) bypass. Maximal isometric voluntary contraction of the knee extensors/flexors and hip abductors/adductors was also measured using a handheld dynamometer. For sidestepping, COD performance with use of the DL was significantly better compared to the NDL (P < 0.05) in all angles of COD. However, bypass COD performance through use of the DL was better compared to the NDL only when turning at 135°. Additionally, strength of the knee extensors/flexors and hip abductors of the DL was significantly (P < 0.05) greater than the NDL. The use of the DL allows better COD performance than the NDL when sidestepping manoeuvre is used. However, the DL allows better COD performance than the NDL only at 135° with the use of the bypass manoeuvre. Furthermore, the greater strength of the DL compared to the NDL may contribute to COD performance difference between legs

'Side-stepping maneuver': not the more efficient technique to change direction amongst young elite soccer players

Two change of direction (COD) maneuvers (Side-Stepping [SSJ and Crossover-Stepping [CR) are often described in the scientific literature. However, there are other COD techniques which have not been investigated Therefore, the main aim of this study was to compare the performance of SS maneuver and a “By-Pass” (BP) COD maneuver (multiple short steps to avoid reduction in running speed by performing longer distance and wider angle of COD compared to SS) over several angles of COD. Seventy-three male soccer players (from U15 and U18 categories) competing at youth level participated in the study. Each age-category was divided into Starters Players (SP) and Non-Starters Players (NSP). Players performed a total of 26 sprints of 10-m, either in straight-line or with a COD (5 m straight ahead and the other 5 m with a turn of 45°, 90°, and 135°) using the two different maneuvers separately: SS and BP. Sprint performance was significantly better at 45°, 90° and 135° CODs (p<0.001) when players performed a BP maneuver compared to SS. Significant age-group effects were revealed, with U18 players demonstrating better performances (p<0.001) than U15 players in all COD angles. Further analysis revealed a significant effect of playing-level, with SP having better performances (p<0.002) compared to NSP in all COD angles. It can be concluded that the BP is a more effective maneuver than SS for changing direction in youth elite soccer players. Also, COD tests with angles ranging between 45° and 135° discriminate between Starters and Non-starters in youth soccer

Infodemiological data of Ironman Triathlon in the study period 2004–2013

This article reports data concerning the Internet-related activities and interest for Ironman Triathlon competition. Google Trends (GT) was used and mined from 2004 onwards. The interest for Ironman Triathlon was found to be cyclic over time. The Triathlon-related Internet activities negatively correlated with the number of finishers per year (Pearson׳s correlation r=−0.690, p-value<0.05), while an increasing participation of female athletes who were less likely to surf the Internet could be noticed (r=−0.811, p-value<0.05). Further, younger athletes, who were more likely to access the web, were underrepresented in the Ironman Triathlon event. Moreover, there was a correlation between the biking time and the Internet query volumes (r=0.590, p-value<0.05), and, in particular, for the male athletes (r=0.664, p-value<0.05). Finally, the countries which most contributed to the Internet query volumes were those with the highest number of medals