Rooth, M. (Michel) (2015) Executive functions and soccer performance in soccer players aged 11-19. thesis, Sport Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
A variety of characteristics is necessary to perform optimally in soccer. In every situation a player needs to find the best solution given the circumstances. A player uses cognitive skills, executive functions (EF), to process the field and his possible actions. The main aim of this study is to determine whether players with high EF also score high on soccer skill performance. In total, 117 youth soccer players, distributed among U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, and U19 teams performed three EF-tests (Stroop test, Trailmaking Test, and Design Fluency Test) and the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test (LSPT) to test soccer performance. For every age group, players were classified as having a high score on the LSPT when the performance score was lower than -0.5 SD of the mean, a low score if performance was above +0.5 SD of the mean, and as average if it was in between these values. The same classification was used to determine potential differences between playing positions. One-way ANOVA’s were performed to determine whether the high, middle, and low performance groups differed in the U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, and U19 teams in their performance on the EF-tests. One-way ANCOVA’s, with age as covariate, were performed to determine whether the performance groups differed between playing positions in their performance on the EF-tests. Within the U17 team, the low performance group outperformed both the high and the middle performance group on Stroop Interference. No significant differences between performance groups were found for playing position. In conclusion, the relative importance of EF is too low to be a significant contributor to the performance on the LSPT.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Huijgen, B. (Barbara) |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 03 May 2022 09:56 |
| Last Modified: | 03 May 2022 09:56 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3183 |
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