Comparison of the External Load in Training Sessions and Official Matches in Female Football: A Case Report

Aratz Olaizola (), Ibai Errekagorri, Karmele Lopez- de-Ipina, Pilar María Calvo and Julen Castellano
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Aratz Olaizola: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01007 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Ibai Errekagorri: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01007 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Karmele Lopez- de-Ipina: Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge 01223, UK
Pilar María Calvo: Department of Computers’ Arquitecture and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo M. Lardizabal, 1, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain
Julen Castellano: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 01007 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-10

Abstract: The objective of this study was to compare the external load of training sessions using as a reference an official competition match in women’s football in order to find if the training sessions replicate the competition demands. Twenty-two semi-professional football players were analyzed during 17 weeks in the first phase of the competitive period of the 2020–2021 season of Spanish women’s football. In addition to the competition (Official Matches, OM), four types of sessions were distinguished: strength or intensity (INT), endurance or extensity (EXT), velocity (VEL), and activation or pre-competitive (PREOM). The external load variables recorded were total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSR), sprint (Sprint), accelerations (ACC2), decelerations (DEC2), player load (PL), distance covered per minute (TDmin), high metabolic load distance (HMLD), and total impacts. The main results were that the external load demanded was different according to the type of session, being, in all cases, much lower than OM. The variables referring to the neuromuscular demands (ACC2 and DEC2) were higher in the INT sessions, the TD variable in the EXT sessions and the velocity variables (HSR and Sprint) in the VEL sessions. We can conclude that there was an alternating horizontal distribution of training loads within the competitive micro-cycle in women’s football, although the order was not the usual one for tactical periodization.

Keywords: team sport; women; external load; periodization; electronic performance; tracking systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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