Effectiveness of a Generic vs. Specific Program Training to Prevent the Short-Term Detraining on Repeated-Sprint Ability of Youth Soccer Players [Article Review]

The authors wrote "Effectiveness of a Generic vs. Specific Program Training to Prevent the Short-Term Detraining on Repeated-Sprint Ability of Youth Soccer Players" to address a common challenge in team sports: maintaining or improving repeated-sprint ability (RSA) in youth soccer players during periods of short-term detraining, such as a midseason break. Despite the known importance of RSA for soccer performance, especially amid regular disruptions to training schedules, little was known about which in-season interventions best prevent declines in this capacity. Tapping into this gap, the authors aimed to compare the effects of two short-term training approaches—generic high-intensity interval training versus soccer-specific conditioning (small-sided games and repeated sprints)—against an inactivity control during a two-week winter break.

Key Takeaways and Findings

• Only the specific program, involving small-sided games and repeated sprints, led to a statistically significant improvement in repeated-sprint ability during the break.

• The group performing generic high-intensity interval training, as well as the inactive control group, both showed declines in RSA performance after the two-week period.

• Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1) performance, a marker of general aerobic fitness, did not change regardless of intervention, potentially due to a high baseline of aerobic fitness in these players.

• The results indicate that merely maintaining aerobic fitness through generic intervals does not preserve—but may even reduce—RSA, whereas specific soccer-based drills and sprints can not only maintain but actually enhance this quality in-season.

  
  

Conclusion and Practical Application

In conclusion, the study underscores that soccer coaches should prioritize specific, high-intensity training modalities—such as combining small-sided games with repeated sprints—over generic aerobic intervals during midseason breaks or other periods of reduced official match play if the goal is to maintain or improve RSA in youth players.

For sport performance and in-season training, these findings recommend that during unavoidable interruptions to normal schedules, increasing the frequency and specificity of sprint-based and game-specific drills is more effective for sustaining key physical qualities than defaulting to non-specific aerobic work. This has practical implications for programming in youth and amateur soccer, suggesting that focused interventions, even over just two weeks, can defend against performance loss and potentially confer sprint capacity gains that are directly transferable to match scenarios.

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