Institute of Sport and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Department Economics and Sociology of Sport, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Sci Med Footb. 2024 Nov;8(4):351-364. doi: 10.1080/24733938.2023.2270563. Epub 2023 Nov 7.
This study aimed to examine the importance assigned to assessing and considering biological maturation in thematic areas of player development and provide an overview of current practices in German football academies regarding its consideration in training and competition.
An online survey was sent to 56 elite German football academies. A total of 46 responded to the questionnaire (82% response rate). Six participants provided incomplete information resulting in a total of 40 completed surveys in the period from March to May 2022.
Only 20 of participants regularly carried out maturation assessments, despite 95% recognizing its importance for load management, 90% for player development, and 85% for injury prevention. There was no consistent approach to modifying training and competition formats based on maturity status, with a primary focus on gym-based sessions for load management.
The survey results highlight limited implementation of maturation assessment and training modification based on maturity status in German elite youth football academies. Despite recognizing the importance of load monitoring, reporting to parents, and long-term player development in considering biological maturation, practices are not widespread. The predominant use of the maturity offset method suggests an opportunity to improve accuracy by exploring alternative measurement methods and increasing assessment frequency. Moreover, a lack of established procedures for incorporating maturity status into training and competition exists, hindering comprehensive consideration of biological maturation and injury risk prevention. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for inconsistent approaches in maturation assessment and load modification during training and competition.
本研究旨在探讨在球员发展的主题领域中评估和考虑生物成熟度的重要性，并概述德国足球学院在训练和比赛中考虑这一因素的当前实践情况。
对 56 家德国精英足球学院进行了在线调查。共有 46 家机构回应了问卷调查（回应率为 82%）。6 名参与者提供的信息不完整，因此在 2022 年 3 月至 5 月期间共有 40 份完整的调查问卷。
尽管 95%的人认为生物成熟度对于负荷管理很重要，90%的人认为对于球员发展很重要，85%的人认为对于预防受伤很重要，但只有 20%的参与者定期进行成熟度评估。基于成熟度状况来调整训练和比赛形式的方法并不一致，主要侧重于基于健身房的负荷管理课程。
调查结果突出表明，德国精英青年足球学院在实施生物成熟度评估和基于成熟度状况的训练调整方面存在局限性。尽管在考虑生物成熟度时，注意负荷监测、向家长报告和长期球员发展很重要，但这些实践并不普遍。成熟度偏移法的主要应用表明，通过探索替代测量方法和增加评估频率，可以提高准确性。此外，在将成熟度状况纳入训练和比赛方面缺乏既定程序，这阻碍了对生物成熟度和受伤风险预防的全面考虑。需要进一步研究以了解在训练和比赛中进行成熟度评估和负荷调整方面不一致方法的原因。
