SECTION III - SPORTS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY / RESEARCH PAPER
The Acceleration-Speed Profile in Professional Soccer Players:
A Comparative Study According to Sex, the Sports Level
and the Playing Position
1
Sport Science Department, Mexican Football Federation, Mexico City, Mexico.
2
SPORT Research Group (CTS-1024), CIBIS Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.
3
Department of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.
4
University of Vigo, Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences, Pontevedra, Spain.
5
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology & Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Submission date: 2024-12-10
Final revision date: 2025-09-16
Acceptance date: 2026-04-01
Publication date: 2026-07-19
Corresponding author
Journal of Human Kinetics 2026;103:149-160
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to compare maximum acceleration and speed capabilities in professional soccer players, both derived from the acceleration-speed (AS) profile (theoretical maximum acceleration [A0] and speed [S0]) and direct assessment (maximum acceleration [MaxAcc] and speed [MaxSpeed]), according to both (i) sex and the sports level, and (ii) the playing position. A total of 737 professional women and men soccer players were monitored during 5–10 official matches. Data were collected using 18-Hz GPS devices to derive AS profiles and directly measure acceleration and speed output. Across all playing levels, professional men soccer players demonstrated significantly (p < 0.01) higher values than female players for A0 (d = 1.14–1.87), S0 (d = 3.88–4.82), MaxAcc (d = 0.57–1.22), and MaxSpeed (d = 2.46–2.81). Likewise, players of higher sports levels showed superior output than their lower counterparts (First Men’s Division > Second Men’s Division > Under 20 Men’s Division; p < 0.05). Position-specific analysis revealed that midfielders had significantly (p < 0.05) lower MaxSpeed values than other positions such as full-backs (d = 0.63–1.17), wide midfielders (d = 0.82), and forwards (d = 0.67–1.06) in both the First and Second Divisions. Conversely, wide midfielders in the Under 20 Men’s Division exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher A0 values than central defenders (d = 0.78). These findings highlight the importance of conducting sex- and position-specific analyses of the AS profile to effectively monitor acceleration and speed capacities across different sports levels in professional soccer.
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