Source: Journal of Athletic Performance and Sports Medicine, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2024), pp. 34–43
Why This Matters for Modern Women’s Football
Women’s football has entered a phase of rapid development — not only in visibility and professionalism, but also in the scientific understanding of performance. As matches become faster, more tactical, and physically demanding, the ability to bridge laboratory testing with real match play has never been more important.
We already know from decades of sport science that sprinting and endurance qualities are crucial in football. Sprinting ability is tied to decisive actions — breakaways, defensive recoveries, and goal-scoring opportunities — while endurance capacity underpins a player’s ability to repeat these high-intensity actions throughout 90 minutes.
However, the question is not simply “who is faster” or “who runs more, ” but how these qualities interact with positional roles and ultimately influence success across a season.
This is where the study by Çıkıkcı, Gülez, and Kayhan makes a valuable contribution. By examining sprint and endurance performance alongside GPS-derived seasonal data and positional differences, the authors provide insights that move beyond abstract test numbers and into the reality of football performance.
The Problem: From Testing Fields to Match Fields
- Football science has always wrestled with one core issue: tests are simple, the game is complex.
- Sprint times can be measured in 10m or 30m sprints.
- Endurance can be estimated with Yo-Yo or Cooper tests.
- GPS can track every step, sprint, and acceleration in matches.
But the key challenge is connecting these layers. A player might have an excellent 30m sprint time, but if she doesn’t cover high-speed distances during matches, is that sprint capacity truly being expressed?
Similarly, a midfielder may score well on aerobic tests but fatigue during the season if endurance is not positionally specific. The study sought to address this by correlating sprint and endurance data with actual seasonal match loads across different positions. This approach not only helps validate testing protocols but also reveals how physical qualities manifest in the tactical and positional contexts of women’s football.
Key Findings: What the Data Revealed
The findings of the study revealed no statistically significant differences in the performance variables based on match outcomes (draw vs. win). High-speed running, sprint performance, and acceleration showed no meaningful variation between the groups, with p-values of 0.50, 0.57, and 0.30, respectively.
Although the total distance covered approached significance (p = 0.06), it did not meet the threshold for statistical significance. These results suggest that match outcomes do not significantly impact the physical performance metrics analyzed.
1. Sprint Capacity and Match High-Speed Running
One of the clearest outcomes was the link between sprint test performance and high-speed running distances (>19 km/h). Wingers and fullbacks, who are tactically required to cover wide areas and engage in repeated accelerations, showed the strongest correlation. In other words, speed in testing predicted speed in matches.
2. Endurance and Sustained Match Loads
Endurance scores correlated with total match distance and the ability to maintain performance across the season. Midfielders, who traditionally run the most in both men’s and women’s football, demonstrated the largest benefit from higher endurance levels. For these players, aerobic capacity provided resilience against the inevitable accumulation of fatigue across 20–30 matches.
3. Positional Profiles
The study confirmed that different positions have unique physical “fingerprints”:
- Attackers: Short, sharp sprint bursts; lower overall distance.
- Midfielders: Balance of endurance and repeated sprint demands.
- Defenders: Moderate endurance demands, with positional awareness reducing total sprint distances.
4. Link to Team Success
The most important finding was that success was tied to balanced profiles. Teams whose
players combined strong sprint and endurance qualities, aligned with positional roles, were
more consistent across the season. This highlights that there is no single performance
metric that guarantees success — instead, it’s about the interaction between qualities and
roles.
Practical Applications for Coaches and Practitioners
The similarity between distances measured in performance tests and distances covered at high speeds during matches is important for evaluation. However, due to the numerous variables that instantaneously affect match performance compared to out-of-match tests (e.g., match timing, score, tactical alignment, opponent, etc.), many possibilities should be considered when making comparisons at high-speed runs and total distances.
The technical and physical quality of the league and team can generally affect all running
distances. When making position-based evaluations, assessments should be based on the physical demands of the players (e.g., wing-backs and central players, etc.). The values of performance tests should be periodically updated, and a relationship can be established based on the results of more games.
Towards Smarter Training in Women’s Football
Rasprava
Our study aimed to explore the relationship between pre-season performance tests (sprint, endurance) and match outputs such as high-intensity running, accelerations, sprints, and total distance covered. Interestingly, no significant direct link was found between pre-season test results and in-match performance variables. This aligns with the idea that football is highly situational — physical expression depends not only on physiological capacities but also on tactical roles, match context, and opponent quality (Errekagori et al., 2023).
When analyzed by results, matches won were associated with higher total distance covered (8808 ± 834 m) compared to draws (7923 ± 883 m). This supports previous findings that greater physical output, especially in total distance, can contribute to positive outcomes (Bradley et al., 2014; Trewin et al., 2018).
However, the lack of consistent significance across other variables (sprint, HSR, accelerations) suggests that success is not driven by one physical metric alone but by a broader interaction of tactical and physical factors (Harkness-Armstrong et al., 2023).
Another layer is positional differences. While previous research indicates wide players and forwards produce higher sprint and HSR values (Di Salvo et al., 2009; Campos Vazquez et al., 2021), our study did not find strong statistical positional effects. This could be explained by the absence of a central vs. wide positional classification, which other studies (Harkness-Armstrong et al., 2021) showed to be decisive.
Finally, the variability of HSR and sprint outputs within and between matches complicates clear associations (Bradley et al., 2009). Since most in-match sprints are <10m (Vigne et al., 2010; Mara et al., 2017), they rarely reach maximum sprint speeds, which might explain the weak correlations between sprint testing and match outputs.
Link to full article: https://journalapsm.com/index.php/pub
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