ArticleFrontiers in sports and active living2026
Season-long changes in COD performance, jump, and flexibility in elite youth soccer players.
Article in Frontiers in sports and active living, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Background: In elite youth soccer, the interplay between the development of key physical qualities, change-of-direction (COD) performance, explosive strength, and flexibility, remains poorly understood. Conventional training often assumes transfer effects, yet empirical evidence on how these qualities co-occur within elite youth cohorts across a competitive season remains limited. We tested the hypothesis that flexibility and explosive strength would be positively associated with COD performance at end-season (T2). Methods: Forty-five elite male youth players (Serie A academy; U12-U14) were monitored across one competitive season. COD performance (T-Test completion time), flexibility (sit-and-reach), and explosive strength (standing broad jump, SBJ) were assessed at the season's start (T0; September 1, 2024) and end (T2; May 1, 2025). Primary analyses used paired Results: Significant season-long improvements were observed in flexibility [Δsit-and-reach = + 1.83 ± 1.42 cm; 95% CI (1.40, 2.26); Conclusions: Elite youth players improved COD performance, flexibility, and horizontal power across the season. Cross-sectionally, higher SBJ performance co-occurred with faster COD performance at end-season, while sit-and-reach flexibility did not. These findings support multi-domain monitoring and targeted training prescriptions, while highlighting the need for maturation-informed designs to test longitudinal coupling of individual adaptations.
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