Kicking velocity and effect on match performance when using a smaller, lighter ball in women's football

Abstract

The present study evaluated the effect of a smaller, lighter ball on kicking speed and technical- tactical and physical match performance in high-level adult female footballers. In the laboratory test setting, the peak ball velocity was 6 % higher with the new ball (NB) than the standard ball (SB) (26.5 ± 0.5 vs. 25.1 ± 0.5 m · s − 1, p < 0.05). However, during match-play, no differences were observed in mean heart rate (87 ± 5 vs. 87 ± 5 %HRmax; p > 0.05), blood lactate (90 min: 4.7 ± 1.7 and 4.0 ± 1.7 mmol · l − 1; p > 0.05), total distance covered (10.6 ± 0.9 and 10.4 ± 0.8 km; p > 0.05), intense running ( > 16 km/h) (2.08 ± 0.42 and 1.94 ± 0.38 km; p > 0.05) and match-induced decrement in Yo-Yo IR1 performance (28 vs. 31 %, respectively, p < 0.05) using NB compared to SB. Likewise, no difference was observed in the number of short, medium-range or long passes during matches played with the 2 ball types, and there was no difference in passing success rate (NB: 68 ± 1 % and SB: 68 ± 1 %, p > 0.05). In conclusion, high-level adult female footballers had a higher kicking speed when using a smaller, lighter ball, but no differences were observed during matchplay with the 2 ball types in respect of technicaltactical and physical match performance. The physical loading was high for the players when playing with both ball types.