Relationship among explosive power, body fat, fat free mass, and pubertal development in youth soccer players. A preliminary study

Purpose Changes in body size and functional capacities are highly individual during puberty, and the performance of a soccer player is often closely related to their maturity status. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationships among explosive power, body fat, fat free mass and pubertal development in young soccer players. Methods Explosive power (countermovement jump— CMJ), body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (%BF), fat free mass (FFM) and a Self-Administered Rating Scale for pubertal development (PDS) values of 11 ‘‘Giovanissimi’’ (age 13 year), 13 ‘‘Allievi’’ (age 15 year) and 10 ‘‘Juniores’’ (age [17 year) male soccer players were compared. The statistical analysis was performed using an analysis of variance among categories with Fisher’s post hoc as appropriate. Furthermore, Pearson correlations among variables were calculated considering all subjects and also within categories. Results Statistical differences emerged among categories in CMJ (F(2,30) = 28.3, p\0.01), body fat weight (F(2,31) = 29.2, p\0.01) and PDS (F(2,29) = 18.5, p\0.01), while %BF values showed statistical differences only for ‘‘Giovanissimi’’ and ‘‘Juniores’’ (F(2,31) = 3.4, p = 0.01). CMJ showed significant correlations with FFM (r = 0.68) and PDS (r = 0.63), PDS with FFM (r = 0.66) and BMI with %BF(r = 0.71) and FFM (r = 0.71).A high correlation was found within categories. Conclusion Since we found differences between categories and no correlation between chronological age and pubertal status, this study highlights the importance of assessing of puberty in youth soccer team.