The effect of small sided game bout duration on skill involvements and cognitive engagement in youth soccer players

Introduction & Aims: Little is known about the optimal soccer-specific small sided games (SSG) bout duration that maximizes skill involvements (SI) and cognitive engagement. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of different soccer SSG on technical, physical and cognitive demands. Methods: Seven youth football players completed two 4v4 SSG -5x3 min and 3x5 min- separated by a one-week interval on a 30x20m playing surface. Mental effort (%) and mental fatigue (% change pre – post bout) were measured 1-min prior to and immediately following each bout using a visual analogue scale. A Borg CR-10 scale measured players’ Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) (n/10) after each bout. The number of SI (n/min) of each player was video-recorded and analysed. Results: Three repeated measures MANOVAs (1) 5x3 min, (2) 3x5 min (3) total scores, were used to assess the differences in mental fatigue, mental effort, RPE, and game involvements/min between individual bouts within SSG (1,2) and between SSG (3). These analyses revealed within subjects’ effects on RPE in the 5x3 min SSG (F=4.706, p<0.01, ES = 0.44) and on mental fatigue (F=4.519, p<0.05, ES = 0.43) and RPE (F=6.230, p<0.05, ES=0.51) in the 3x5 min SSG. As participants progressed in both SSG, RPE increased. In the 3x5 min SSG, participants reported that the last bout induced less mental fatigue. Although no further significances were revealed, descriptive statistics revealed that participants had on average 4.2 SI/min in the 5x3 min and 3.5 SI/min in 3x5 min SSG and reported higher mental effort in the 5x3 min (39.9±12.9) than in the 3x5 min (27.5±9.3) SSG. Conclusion: Although both SSG induced cognitive fatigue (24.9±22.4 and 19.9±13.8 for the 5x3 and 3x5 min SSG respectively) the results of this study suggest that an SSG with 5x3 min could potentially result in more SI/min and greater mental effort, without inducing more cognitive fatigue, yet more participants are needed to increase statistical power.