Does Specialisation Impact Sprint and Change of Direction Performance in Youth Football Players?

Performance in specialised youth

Authors

  • Anja Zoellner Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
  • Paul Read Faculty of Sport, Allied Health and Performance Science, St Marys University, London, United Kingdom; School of Sport and Exercise, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, United Kingdom; Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom
  • Chris Whatman Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
  • Kelly Sheerin Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ), Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47206/ijsc.v6i1.457

Keywords:

Soccer, Adolescent, Sport specialisation, Sport sampling, Youth development

Abstract

Purpose: Specialisation in youth football is common, often with the goal of heightened sporting success later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate if sprint and change of direction (COD) performance differs between specialised and diversified youth football players.

Methods: Twenty male football players (age: 15.9 ±1.1 years), grouped as specialised (n=11) or diversified (n=9), were compared in 30m sprint and 5-0-5 COD tasks. In the sprint, 10m and 30m completion time and force-velocity profiles were examined. COD performance was assessed using total time, COD deficit, and 2-dimensional video to determine if participants used backward trunk inclination and heel strike during their penultimate foot contact. Linear mixed models and Chi-square analyses were used to compare groups with significance set at p ≤0.05.

Results: Sprint and COD performance did not differ between groups (p >0.05). Significantly greater COD asymmetries were seen in the specialised group (9%) compared to the diversified group (4%). While not significantly different, effect sizes suggest potential differences in task completion strategy were observed based on force-velocity profiles during sprints.

Conclusions: These results suggest a specialised pathway does not lead to improved performance in sprint or COD in youth football players, but it may lead to differences in the strategy used to perform these tasks.

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Published

2026-01-23

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): International Journal of Strength and Conditioning

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Anja Zoellner, Paul Read, Chris Whatman, Kelly Sheerin

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

Zoellner, Anja, Paul Read, Chris Whatman, and Kelly Sheerin. 2026. “Does Specialisation Impact Sprint and Change of Direction Performance in Youth Football Players? Performance in Specialised Youth”. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.47206/ijsc.v6i1.457.