Physical fitness as a factor in the effectiveness of the competitive activity of 17-18-year-old football players during the transition to professional teams

The need to demonstrate high results, on which a coach's career depends, forces the latter to practically ignore the psychophysiological features of the body of athletes aged 17-21 during the educational and training process and measures to restore players after exertion. As a result, the demands of professional football for most of the talented youth become excessive, which leads to overfatigue and a high level of injuries. The most rational approach to solving the problem of training football players during the transition to professional teams should be based on a systematic training methodology that will ensure effective development of sportsmanship, systematic growth of functional capabilities and their proper implementation. It should be noted that the indicators of physical and technical fitness of football players after graduating from the children's and youth football school do not meet the requirements of professional football. The article is devoted to solving the problem of the effectiveness of the competitive activity of 17-18-year-old football players during the transition to professional teams. The work revealed that the age range from 17 to 21 years falls on the period of an athlete's life, when the formation of all functional systems, which ensure high performance and immunity of the body against adverse factors that appear during intense training, is basically completed. It was noted that the physical and technical fitness indicators of football players after graduating from the children's and youth football school do not meet the requirements of professional football. The peculiarities of physical fitness in relation to the effective competitive activity of 17-18-year-old football players at the stage of specialized basic training were analyzed. The data of the study served as indicators of the players' physical fitness. As a result of the conducted correlational analysis of the physical fitness of young football players aged 17-18 years, an average and low value of the relationship was determined, which implies a fairly close relationship between the level of physical fitness and almost all indicators of the sportsmen's motor qualities, except for the indicator that characterizes the starting speed. It has been confirmed that the preparedness of athletes in football depends on their functional indicators, which, in turn, determine the effectiveness of certain tactical and technical actions.