TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationship between ambient temperature and match running performance of elite soccer players
AU - Morgans, Ryland
AU - Bezuglov, Eduard
AU - Rhodes, Dave
AU - Teixeira, Jose
AU - Modric, Toni
AU - Versic, Sime
AU - Michele, Rocco Di
AU - Oliveira, Rafael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2023 Morgans et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/7/11
Y1 - 2023/7/11
N2 - The influence of environmental factors on key physical parameters of soccer players during competitive match-play have been widely investigated in the literature, although little is known on the effects of sub-zero ambient temperatures on the performance of adult elite soccer players during competitive matches. The aim of this study was to assess how the teams’ match running performance indicators are related to low ambient temperature during competitive matches in the Russian Premier League. A total of 1142 matches played during the 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 seasons were examined. Linear mixed models were used to assess the relationships between changes in ambient temperature at the start of the match and changes in selected team physical performance variables, including total, running (4.0 to 5.5 m/s), high-speed running (5.5 to 7.0 m/s) and sprint (> 7.0 m/s) distances covered. The total, running and high-speed running distances showed no significant differences across temperatures up to 10C, while these showed small to large decreases at 11 to 20C and especially in the >20C ranges. On the contrary, sprint distance was significantly lower at temperature of -5C or less compared to higher temperature ranges. At sub-zero temperatures, every 1C lower reduced team sprint distance by 19.2 m (about 1.6%). The present findings show that a low ambient temperature is negatively related to physical match performance behavior of elite soccer players, notably associated with a reduced total sprint distance.
AB - The influence of environmental factors on key physical parameters of soccer players during competitive match-play have been widely investigated in the literature, although little is known on the effects of sub-zero ambient temperatures on the performance of adult elite soccer players during competitive matches. The aim of this study was to assess how the teams’ match running performance indicators are related to low ambient temperature during competitive matches in the Russian Premier League. A total of 1142 matches played during the 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 seasons were examined. Linear mixed models were used to assess the relationships between changes in ambient temperature at the start of the match and changes in selected team physical performance variables, including total, running (4.0 to 5.5 m/s), high-speed running (5.5 to 7.0 m/s) and sprint (> 7.0 m/s) distances covered. The total, running and high-speed running distances showed no significant differences across temperatures up to 10C, while these showed small to large decreases at 11 to 20C and especially in the >20C ranges. On the contrary, sprint distance was significantly lower at temperature of -5C or less compared to higher temperature ranges. At sub-zero temperatures, every 1C lower reduced team sprint distance by 19.2 m (about 1.6%). The present findings show that a low ambient temperature is negatively related to physical match performance behavior of elite soccer players, notably associated with a reduced total sprint distance.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164437431&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0288494
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0288494
M3 - Article
C2 - 37432958
AN - SCOPUS:85164437431
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 7 July
M1 - e0288494
ER -