Can discreet performance banding, as compared to bio-banding, discriminate technical skills in male adolescent soccer players? A preliminary investigation

Maturation-related changes in body dimensions and performance can lead to physical mismatches and drop out fromyouth sport. Here, we propose a new method termed ‘discreet performance banding’ (DPB). We aimed to determine ifdividing youths byactualphysical performance of a discreet skill or ability (‘change or direction’ [COD] ability) coulddiscriminate between the most and least skilled players better than a marker ofimpliedperformance, such as anassessment of biological maturation. 182 male academy Spanish soccer players (age: 13-18 years height: 143 to188 cm; mass: 32.3 to 81.4 kg) were divided into maturation groups (Tanner stages 2 through 5) and COD groups(‘fast’, ‘intermediate’ and ‘slow’). Players’ skills (passing, shooting, ball control) were evaluated on a six-point scale with avalue of ‘1’ considered ‘very bad’ and a value of ‘6’ as ‘very good’. When divided by maturity status, analyses revealed nosignificant differences between groups in soccer skill. However, when divided into COD groups, the analyses revealedsignificant differences between the fast and intermediate players ([p<0.001] favouring the fast group) and between theintermediate and slow players ([p<0.026] favouring the slow group). There was no significant difference in skill betweenthe fast and slow groups, though the fast group demonstrated a higher skill level as indicated by a small effect size. Fastplayers were more skilful than both the intermediate and slower players, indicating that COD status can be a differ-entiating factor between players of different skill levels. DPB could be used to equalise competition in youth sport and toenhance the overall level of enjoyment that youths derive from engagement in sport.