Fitness profiles of professional futsal players: identifying age-related differences

Study aim: The aim of this study was to determine the fitness profiles of senior and junior futsal players and to identify potential differences between the studied age groups. Materials and methods: 44 male futsal players from 5 professional futsal teams participated in this study. Subjects were divided into two age groups (seniors [>18 years; n = 26] vs juniors [<18 years of age; n = 18]). Players were tested for anthropometrics (body mass, body height and body fat percentage), jumping capacity (countermovement jump and standing broad jump), kicking speed (for dominant and non-dominant leg), sprinting capacity (5- and 10-meter sprints), 20-yard test, futsal-specific reactive agility, and futsal-specific change-of-direction speed tests. Results: No significant differences between age groups were apparent for anthropometrics. Seniors achieved better results than juniors in tests of kicking speed, for both the dominant (106.81 +/- 6.94 km/h and 100.94 +/- 5.33 km/h, respectively, t-test: 3.02 [p < 0.001], Cohen's d: 1.02) and nondominant leg (95.54 +/- 8.57 km/h and 85.28 +/- 8.71 km/h, respectively, t-test: 3.88 [p < 0.001], Cohen's d: 1.25). Conclusions: Seniors did not achieve significantly better results than juniors in most of the observed variables. Since the maximum biological maturity occurs up to 18 years, and studied juniors were in their late adolescence, we can assume that differences between groups are related to other indices (i.e. technical skills, tactical knowledge).