Jason Vescovi on the physical demands of women's football

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ fast approaching, and given the rapid rise of the women’s game in recent years, the evolving physicality of female football has become a hot topic for practitioners and scientists alike. In this presentation, Dr Jason Vescovi draws on both his own and others’ research in this area to discuss the physical demands of the various levels and standards of the women’s game in more detail and how the findings of this research can be used to develop more targeted training regimes for female footballers. His presentation is followed by a Q&A session hosted by Dr Paul Bradley.

Part 1: Selecting appropriate velocity thresholds 
Dr Vescovi presents the findings of various studies on locomotor demands in women’s football, highlighting the use of different velocity thresholds to define walking, jogging, running and high-speed running. He explains that it is difficult to compare research findings due to the inconsistent use of velocity thresholds. Dr Vescovi therefore argues that appropriate thresholds specific to women’s football must be identified and consistently implemented to enhance the ability to understand the locomotor demands.

Part 2: Distances covered in women’s football 
Dr Vescovi tackles this subject in relation to the different standards (youth to international) and levels (divisions within a standard) in the women’s game. He refers to Prof Tom Reilly’s work on “readiness”, defined as a player’s ability to meet the functional demands of a particular standard and to adapt to those of higher standards in order to bridge the gap. Dr Vescovi also draws on the findings from the multiple studies with his Female Athletes in Motion (FAiM) project. This impressive body of evidence clearly demonstrates the increase in total distance and high-intensity running as female players progress from youth to international standards of play.

Part 3: Positional differences 
Dr Vescovi alludes to several studies comparing the various types of distances covered by female players (e.g. forwards, midfielders and defenders). These findings show that locomotor demands increase linearly across standards, from youth to professional, and that forwards spend more time engaged in high-intensity activity than other positions. To highlight the impact of a couple contextual factors, Dr Vescovi also discusses his study on the demands of post-season football (Play-Offs) compared to the regular season, and of the international level compared to domestic women’s football. 

Part 4: Practical applications for the daily training environment 
Dr Vescovi first examines macro (seasonal) demands before discussing the use of volume multipliers in other endurance sports to determine the expected weekly output for locomotor metrics. He then analyses fluctuations in micro (weekly) demands in the build-up to matchday and looks at locomotor demands at the session level (daily), explaining how we can use this knowledge to better adapt training regimes to the functional demands of different positions and standards.

01:17
In relation to speed zones and thresholds in the women’s game, do we need to individualise those thresholds? Should we keep them generic? Or should we perhaps combine individual and generic thresholds?

06:08
Researchers in this area tend to focus mostly on the locomotive demands of female matchplay. With that in mind, are there any other physiological or physical metrics out there that we should potentially consider to give us a much more rounded overview of the complex demands of the women’s game? 

12:20
Because physical outputs such as sprinting may vary considerably from game to game, is there a reason for the significant variability that we see in these metrics? And, given that the subsequent data is inherently noisy, how can be best interpret it? 

17:57
Based on available data, is there any link between the physical fitness of female players and their running performance in matches? If so, does this kind of relationship differ in male players compared to female players?

23:28
In your presentation, you also mentioned positional differences in match demands. How could we potentially translate these research findings into training practices and drills that do not just reflect the game of football as a whole, but also the positional demands of each player?

26:45
You mentioned the weekly micro cycle in your presentation on a number of occasions. How does match distribution and fixture congestion impact the need to adjust training demands? Do you have any specific examples?

31:58
In terms of the health and well-being of female athletes specifically, what impact does the menstrual cycle have on physical performance?

41:31
You touched on injuries in your previous answer, a particularly important subject in the women’s game given the prevalence of knee ligament injuries. What is your take on the link between match demands and injuries in women’s football?

45:32
We have discussed past research in great depth today, but what about the future? In your expert opinion, in which direction does future research need to be led to improve the physical profile of female players?

48:39
If you could give a practitioner advice regarding this field, what would it be?