PILOT STUDY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF (TRACTION) FORCE AT JUNIOR FOOTBALL PLAYERS (15-18 YEARS OLD)

Abstract

The game of football enjoys high popularity worldwide and has undergone significant changes in terms of the players’ physical strain. This study seeks to analyze the differences that may occur at the level of the tractive force between two junior groups: one of 15-16 years (n = 21, 177.5 ± 5.98 cm height, body mass 68.53 ± 6.28 cm) and one of 17-18 years (n = 24, 175.3 cm ± 8.27 height, 61.93 ± 8.61 cm body mass). The tractive force was measured with an Axis FB5k dynamometer, adapted to such an assessment by the various accessories. Four tractive forces were evaluated: forward, backward, left and right. We assumed that the values of the tractive force would be different between the two age groups. The highest values within each group were noticed in the case of the forward tractive force (62.63 ± 8.39 kgf) of the 17-18 years old players and the right tractive force (58.51 ± 13.09 kgf) of those 15-16 years. The hypothesis of the study was invalidated by statistically insignificant differences that have emerged in each measurement.

Keywords

• football
• tractive force
• dynamometry