Is impaired coordination related to match physical load in footballers with cerebral palsy of different sport classes?
Impaired coordination is a characteristic feature in cerebral palsy (CP) football players. This study aimed to determine the relationships of three coordination tests with match physical load during competition of para-footballers from different sport classes. Records from 259 para-footballers from 25 national teams were obtained in four international competitions held in 2018 and 2019. The three coordination tests were conducted prior to competition (i.e., rapid heel-toe, side-stepping, and split jumps), and physical match load was recorded by GPS devices during the real game: i.e., maximum/mean, total distance, distance covered at different speed zones, number of accelerations/decelerations at different intensities, and player load. FT1 and FT3 players have the lowest and highest performance in all the coordination tests, respectively, but inconclusive between-groups differences were obtained (p=0.022‒0.238). Split jumps and side-stepping tests are associated with the performance of moderate and high accelerations during competition (r = -0.20‒0.71; p<0.01). Significant correlations (r = 0.36‒0.71; p<0.01) were obtained between all the coordination measures. Coordination tests better discriminate those with more severe impairments and some evidence for the validity of the new CP football sport classes is provided. Further research is necessary to identify the portion of the variance in sports performance that coordination explains.
['Reina|Raúl|R|https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0279-7802', 'Iturricastillo|Aitor|A|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7004-5341', 'Castillo|Daniel|D|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4159-6475', 'Roldan|Alba|A|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5232-5825', 'Toledo|Carlos|C|', 'Yanci|Javier|J|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8965-5024']
D000054:Acceleration D000328:Adult D000704:Analysis of Variance D001259:Ataxia D054874:Athletic Performance D002547:Cerebral Palsy D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D003654:Deceleration D040362:Geographic Information Systems D006801:Humans D038622:Internationality D035002:Lower Extremity D009068:Movement D000080050:Para-Athletes D012916:Soccer D064846:Sports for Persons with Disabilities D055815:Young Adult
Soccer brain impairment classification paralympic sport