Profiling the Physical Conditioning Attributes of Young Male Gaelic Football Players: From Adolescence to Adulthood

Physical Conditioning in Young Male Gaelic football

Abstract

This study assessed the anthropometry and physical conditioning attributes of young male inter-county (national level) Gaelic football players, comparing possible differences according to age categories (under-14 [U14] to under-21 [U21]) and position. In total, 3547 assessments were undertaken in 2588 players across a 10-year period (2013 to 2023). Assessments included anthropometry (stature, body mass, sum of 3 skinfolds), flexibility (sit and reach test), muscular power (countermovement jump and standing long jump), running speed (5-m and 20-m), muscular endurance (maximum push ups) and aerobic capacity (yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 1 [YYIRT1]). Increases were demonstrated when comparing age categories from U14 to U21 for anthropometry (e.g., height [cm] +5.7%), muscular power (e.g., Standing long jump [cm] +16.1%). running speed (e.g., 5 m speed [s] -4.8% from U14 to U20), running momentum (e.g., 20 m momentum [kg^.ms^-1] +41.5% from U14 to U20), muscular endurance (push-ups [n] +107.7%), flexibility (sit and reach [cm] +36.0%) and aerobic capacity (YYIRT1 [m] +42.3%). When comparing positions, goalkeepers and midfielders were taller and heavier than backs and forwards, respectively. Additionally, midfielders displayed superior aerobic conditioning when compared with other positions, while goalkeepers displayed significantly lower aerobic conditioning. These findings offer comparative data of young Gaelic football players from varying age categories (U14 to U21) which are further classified according to positions. Practitioners may utilize this data to inform player identification processes, characterize position-specific benchmarks and monitor physiological adaptations in young players.