Match-representative holistic training improves explosive power, sprint speed, shooting accuracy, and mental toughness in adolescent soccer players

Abstract

Soccer performance arises from interacting physical, technical, and psychological capacities, yet youth training programs often develop these components separately. This study examined whether a match-representative holistic training program could improve lower-limb explosive performance, linear sprint speed, shooting accuracy, and mental toughness in adolescent players. A pretest-posttest controlled design involved 30 male players aged 15–17 years from Rohul United Football Club, Riau, Indonesia. Players were randomly allocated to an experimental group or a control group, with 15 players in each group. For six weeks, the experimental group completed three integrated sessions per week combining explosive actions, sprinting, ball reception, rapid decision-making, defensive pressure, and finishing, whereas the control group continued conventional training in which physical and technical contents were delivered separately. Outcomes were assessed using the standing broad jump, 30-m sprint, a 10-attempt shooting accuracy test, and a 25-item mental toughness questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, followed by within-group and posttest between-group comparisons. Significant time-by-group interactions were observed for all outcomes (all p < 0.001; partial eta squared = 0.980–0.996). In the experimental group, standing broad jump performance increased from 195.87 ± 8.72 to 207.40 ± 9.09 cm, sprint time decreased from 4.78 ± 0.10 to 4.49 ± 0.11 s, shooting accuracy increased from 36.93 ± 3.61 to 49.20 ± 3.91 points, and mental toughness increased from 89.00 ± 5.77 to 103.47 ± 5.62 points. Posttest differences favored the experimental group for every outcome, with large to very large standardized effects. These findings suggest that integrating representative physical, technical, and psychological demands within the same drill can produce broader short-term adaptations than conventional separated practice. Coaches working with adolescent players may use this model as a complementary training strategy while monitoring workload and adapting task difficulty to developmental level.