CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN RELATION TO PLAYING POSITION

Muamer ABDULLAI, Astrit ISENI, Enes QAILI

Abstract

In this paper, the physical fitness characteristics of professional football players in relation to the playing position have been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine if the speed, speed with change of direction - agility, explosive strength of the lower extremities and isotonic strength of the muscles of the upper extremities in football players varies according to the playing position. The research was conducted on a sample of 24 elite football players (n=24, age 25.82±5.6 years) who play in four different positions, such as goalkeeper (GK), defender (DF), midfielder (MF) and forward (FW). Univariate analysis of variance ANOVA was used to compare the following variables: 10 meter and 20 meters linear sprint, T-test of agility, squat jump, counter movement jump-free hand and 1RM Bench press. The results showed a significant influence of the game positions on the performance of the counter movement jump – free hand (F=3.800, p=0.026) and the performance of the 10 meters linear sprint (F=3.243, p=0.044). The LSD post-hoc test analysis revealed significantly better performance in the countermovement jump test (CMJ-free hand) in favor of forwards (FW) (47.24 cm), compared to midfielders (MF) (37.60 cm) and goalkeepers ( GK) (38.05 cm), better performance in the squat jump test (SJ) was again shown by forwards (FW) (39.22 cm) compared to goalkeepers (GK) (31.10 cm) and also in speed ability, through in the 10-meter linear sprint test (R10m), significantly better performance was shown by forwards (FW) (1.83 sec.) compared to goalkeepers (GK) (2.03 sec.) and defenders (DF) (1.94 sec.) . The results of this study may provide detailed strategies for coaches and clinical practitioners for developing position-specific fitness programs in professional football players.

Pages: 173 - 181