The acute effects of neuromuscular and dynamic warm-up protocols on performance parameters in young female soccer players

Abstract

This study compared the acute effects of dynamic and neuromuscular warm-up protocols on sprint, agility, and jumping performance in young female soccer players. A total of twenty-eight young female soccer players (age: 15.71±1.49 years; height: 163±6 cm; body weight: 53.18±5.52 kg; training experience: 2.96±1 year) participated in crossover experimental design. Short-term performance measures including sprint, agility, and jumping, were assessed under 3 distinct warm-up conditions: dynamic warm-up (DWU), neuromuscular warm-up (NWU), and a general warm-up (GWU) with each session separated by a rest period. In the analysis of the data, the effects of the participants' performance measurements under three different warm-up conditions were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA test. Normality assumption was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test, while sphericity assumption was assessed using the Mauchly test, and Greenhouse–Geisser correction was applied where necessary. For variables where significant differences were found, multiple comparison analyses were performed using the Bonferroni method. According to the analysis results, warm-up conditions were found to have a statistically significant effect on 30 m sprint (F=10.69, p<0.001, ηp²=0.284), 20 m sprint (F=16.49, p<0.001, ηp²=0.379), vertical jump height (F=62.35, p<0.001, ηp²=0.698) and agility (F=7.03, p=0.002, ηp²=0.207) values. Effect size (ηp²) values indicate that warm-up conditions have a moderate to high level of impact on performance variables. The high ηp² value observed particularly in jumping performance reveals that the type of warm-up has a strong influence on this variable. Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons revealed that dynamic warm-up was more effective for 30 and 20 m sprint and agility performances, while neuromuscular warm-up was more effective for jumping performance (p<0.05). In conclusion, it can be argued that instead of applying a uniform approach to warm-up protocols for young women’s soccer players, they should be customized to meet specific performance goals before training and competition.