Document Type : Original research study

Authors

1 Sport Sciences Faculty, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Sport Sciences Research Institute of Iran (SSRI)

3 department of motor behavior, kharazmi university

Abstract

Small-sided game (SSG) training can improve the psychological factors and performance of players. A wide range of sports psychology relies on the fact that sports success is also achieved by improving psycho-motor skills. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of small-sided game (SSG) training on mental toughness, physical activity enjoyment, and performance of football players. Using the targeted sampling method, 22 football players were selected. The instruments used in the study were a mental toughness questionnaire, a physical activity enjoyment scale, and football analysis software. The executive protocol also included a four-week training program in small areas (two vs. two, three vs. three, four vs. four, and five vs. five). Results showed that there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of mental toughness. The analysis also showed that the difference between the means in the variables of physical activity enjoyment and players' performance was significant. Therefore, training in small fields can be used to improve the psychological factors and performance of football players.

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. Abuhamdeh S., Csikszentmihalyi M. (2012). The importance of challenge for the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated, goal-directed activities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(3), 317-330.
  2. Aftab, R; Shams, A. (2020). Relationship between Integrated SelfKnowledge and Resilience with Anxiety of Being Infected by COVID19: The Mediating Role of Intolerance of Ambiguity, Worry, and Physical Activity. Sport Psychology Studies, 9(32), 201-26. In Persian
  3. Aguiar M., Botelho G., Lago C., Maças V., Sampaio J. (2012). A review on the effects of soccer small-sided games. Journal of Human Kinetics,33, 103-113.
  4. Aguiar M., Gonçalves B., Botelho G., Lemmink K., Sampaio J. (2015). Footballers’ movement behaviour during 2-, 3-, 4-and 5-a-side small-sided games. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(12), 1259-1266.
  5. Beltrán H.C., Reigal R.E., Uribe S.F., Reyes F.V., Ríos L.C. (2018). Self-determined motivation and state of flow in an extracurricular program of Small Sided Games. Anales De Psicología, 34(2), 391-397.
  6. Bujalance-Moreno P., Latorre-Román P. Á., García-Pinillos F. (2019). A systematic review on small-sided games in football players: Acute and chronic adaptations. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37(8), 921-949.
  7. Canton A., Torrents C., Ric A., Gonçalves B., Sampaio J., Hristovski R. (2019). Effects of temporary numerical imbalances on collective exploratory behavior of young and professional football players. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1968-1977.
  8. Castellano J., Casamichana D., Dellal A. (2013). Influence of game format and number of players on heart rate responses and physical demands in small-sided soccer games. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(5), 1295-1303.
  9. Doewes R.I., Purnama S., Syaifullah R., Nuryadin I. (2020). The effect of small sided games training method on football basic skills of dribbling and passing in indonesian players aged 10-12 years. Int J Adv Sci Technol, 29(3), 429-441.
  10. Ercan H. Y. (2013). Sport and exercise psychology. Ankara: Nobel Publishing House.
  11. Erdoğan N., Kocaekşi S. (2015). Psychological features that elite athletes should have: Review. Turkey Clinical Journal of Sports Sciences, 7(2), 57-64.
  12. Formenti D., Rossi A., Bongiovanni T., Campa F., Cavaggioni L., Alberti G., Trecroci A. (2021). Effects of Non-Sport-Specific versus sport-specific training on physical performance and perceptual response in young football players. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1962-1973.
  13. Gonçalves B., Marcelino R., Torres-Ronda L., Torrents C., Sampaio J. (2016). Effects of emphasising opposition and cooperation on collective movement behaviour during football small-sided games. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(14), 1346-1354.
  14. Gråstén A., Watt A. (2017). A motivational model of physical education and links to enjoyment, knowledge, performance, total physical activity and body mass index. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine,16(3), 318-327.
  15. Gucciardi D.F. (2017). Mental toughness: progress and prospects. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 17-23.
  16. Halouani J., Chtourou H., Gabbett T., Chaouachi A., Chamari K.

 

(2014). Small-sided games in team sports training: a brief review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 28(12), 3594-3618.

  1. Hammami A., Kasmi S., Farinatti P., Fgiri T., Chamari K., Bouhlel, E. (2017). Blood pressure, heart rate and perceived enjoyment after small-sided soccer games and repeated sprint in untrained healthy adolescents. Biology of Sport, 34(3), 219-225.
  2. Kashani V., Farrokhi A., Kazemnejad A., Mahmoud Sh. (2015). Determining the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the sports mental stiffness questionnaire (SMTQ). Motor Behavior, 7(20), 49-72. In Persian
  3. Kazim N., Veysel T. (2019). Mental toughness of students: levels of hockey player’s mental toughness of the athletes. Asian Journal of Education and Training,5(1), 224-228.
  4. Leser R., Hoch T., Tan X., Moser B., Kellermayr G., Baca A. (2019). Finding efficient strategies in 3-versus-2 small-sided games of youth soccer players. Kinesiology, 51(1.), 110-118.
  5. Los Arcos A., Vázquez J.S., Martín J., Lerga J., Sánchez F., Villagra F., Zulueta J.J. (2015). Effects of small-sided games vs. interval training in aerobic fitness and physical enjoyment in young elite soccer players. PloS One, 10(9), e0137224-10.
  6. Low B., Coutinho D., Gonçalves B., Rein R., Memmert D., Sampaio J. (2020). A systematic review of collective tactical behaviours in football using positional data. Sports Medicine, 50(2), 343-385.
  7. Lyons E. J. (2015). Cultivating engagement and enjoyment in exergames using feedback, challenge, and rewards. Games for Health Journal, 4(1), 12-18.
  8. Makbarian M., Kashani V., & Siddiqui F. (2018). Validation of the Persian version of the Physical Activity Pleasure Scale in Children. Motor Behavior, 9 (30), 17-36. In Persian
  9. Paul D.J., Marques J.B., Nassis G.P. (2019). The effect of a concentrated period of soccer-specific fitness training with small-sided games on physical fitness in youth players. J Sports Med Phys Fitness, 59(6), 962-8.
  10. Piggott B., Müller S., Chivers P., Cripps A., Hoyne G. (2019). Small-sided games can discriminate perceptual-cognitive-motor capability and predict disposal efficiency in match performance of skilled Australian footballers. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37(10), 1139-1145.
  11. Praça G.M., Costa A., Costa F.F., Andrade A. (2016). Tactical behavior in soccer small-sided games: influence of tactical knowledge and numerical superiority. Journal of Physical Education, 27, e2736-12.
  12. Ric A., Hristovski R., Gonçalves B., Torres L., Sampaio J., Torrents C. (2016). Timescales for exploratory tactical behaviour in football small-sided games. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(18), 1723-1730.

 

  1. Rodríguez-Fernández A., Rodríguez-Marroyo J., Casamichana D., Villa J.G. (2016). Effects of 5-week pre-season small-sided-game-based training on repeat sprint ability. The Journal of Sports Medicine And Physical Fitness, 57(5), 529-536.
  2. Selmi O., Gonçalves B., Ouergui I., Sampaio J., Bouassida A. (2018). Influence of well-being variables and recovery state in physical enjoyment of professional soccer players during small-sided games. Research in Sports Medicine, 26(2), 199-210.
  3. Selmi O., Haddad M., Majed L., Khalifa B., Hamza M., Chamari K. (2017). Soccer training: high-intensity interval training is mood disturbing while small sided games ensure mood balance. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 58(7-8), 1163-1170.
  4. Selmi O., Ouergui I., Levitt D.E., Nikolaidis P. T., Knechtle B., Bouassida A. (2020). Small-sided games are more enjoyable than high-intensity interval training of similar exercise intensity in soccer. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 11, 77-84.
  5. Shams, A., Ahmadi Kamrani, A.A. (2015). The Effect of Aerobic Activity Intensity on Self-Concept Dimensions among Elderly with 60 to 70 Years Old. Sport Psychology Studies, 4(11): 53-64. In Persian.

 

  1. Silva P., Aguiar P., Duarte R., Davids K., Araújo D., Garganta J. (2014). Effects of pitch size and skill level on tactical behaviours of association football players during small-sided and conditioned games. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching,9(5), 993-1006.
  2. VaezMousavi, M., Shams, A. Bahrami, A.R., Farsi, A.R. (2015). Abdoli, B. Mental Preparation of Iranian Elite Athletes. Sport Psychology Studies, 4(13): 1-22. In Persian.
  3. Vasconcellos F., Seabra A., Katzmarzyk P. T., Kraemer-Aguiar L.G., Bouskela E., Farinatti P. (2014). Physical activity in overweight and obese adolescents: systematic review of the effects on physical fitness components and cardiovascular risk factors. Sports Medicine, 44(8), 1139-1152.
  4. Wilson D., Bennett E. V., Mosewich A.D., Faulkner G.E., Crocker P.R. (2019). The zipper effect: Exploring the interrelationship of mental toughness and self-compassion among Canadian elite women athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise,40, 61-70.
  5. Young C. M., Luo W., Gastin P., Lai J., Dwyer D.B. (2019). Understanding effective tactics in Australian football using network analysis. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 19(3), 331-341.