Analysis of professional football players’ sprint performance efficiency in matches

The purpose of this study is to analyze the efficiency of the high-intensi-ty exercise performances of professional players during matches. Thirty professional players competed in a total of 38 matches throughout the season. 1,558 sprint efforts were recorded and subsequently analyzed. The sprint efficiency assessment tool ensured good interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.892; 95% confidence interval, 0.883–0.901) and the validity of the analysis was confirmed by four experts with more than 20 years of experience in football. The total distance and low-intensity running were higher during the first half than during the second half of the season (P<0.01). The positions covering the greatest distances were full back and midfielder. High-intensity running (P<0.05) and sprinting (P<0.01) were higher during home matches than during away matches. The sprint efficiency was higher during the sec-ond half than during the first half of the season (P<0.05), but the maxi-mum velocity was higher during the first half of the season (P<0.01). Sprint efficiency was higher for the attack than for the defense and de-fensive transition situations (P<0.05). Higher duration, distance, and maximum velocity were observed for the excellent efficiency group than for the appropriate group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the development of effective training programs to enhance high-intensity exercise performance, such as sprinting, re-quires consideration that goes beyond simply physical speed enhance-ment to encompass situational judgment, timing, path selection, and speed regulation in an integrated way.