Normative data and objective benchmarks for selected force plate tests for professional and youth soccer players in the English Football League

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish objective benchmarks for countermovement jump (CMJ), countermovement rebound jump (CMRJ), and isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) metrics in male professional and youth soccer players. Professional (N = 139; age: 24 ± 5 years; height: 184 ± 7 cm; mass: 81 ± 9 kg) and youth (N = 137; age: 17 ± 1 years; height: 178 ± 17 cm; mass: 72 ± 8 kg) soccer players were recruited from 7 separate clubs. Many CMJ (25/32), CMRJ (24/30), and (2/2) IMTP metrics discriminated between age groups. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were identified in CMJ outcome (4/4), propulsive kinetic (6/6), and relative propulsive kinetic (4/4) metrics, but trivial non-significant (p > 0.05) differences were identified in strategy (4/4) metrics. Rebound jump portion propulsive kinetic (4/4) metrics and braking depth demonstrated moderate to large differences between groups, but only one relative propulsive kinetic (1/4) metric demonstrated significant (p < 0.01) differences. Professional soccer players also demonstrated significantly (p < 0.001) greater IMTP peak force (3031 ± 549 N vs 2441 ± 452 N; g = 0.788) and relative peak force (37.39 ± 5.35 N/kg vs 34.01 ± 4.74 N/kg; g = 0.446) than youth soccer players.