Abstract:
Team sports require coaches to determine which skills are most beneficial to scoring opportunities and how to divide practice time for maximum benefit for players. This experiment was designed to determine if a relationship existed in skills between 2 physical tests: 100 m sprint with ball dribble
and shots-on-goal from 5 sites on the field. Foot contacts, time to completion, and heart rate at end of sprint were all measured. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive linear relationship between ball touches and goals scored. Subjects with soccer experience would use more touches to keep the ball close and in control, to prevent opponents from taking the ball. Pearson correlation was performed. No significant correlation was found between goals scored and ball touches, within all subjects or within soccer participants. A general positive correlation appeared, but in each case, these results were not significant. Participants with soccer experience on a turf field specifically could be used in further studies to have a better sample. Additionally, competitive players could be compared to amateur players to examine for a difference.
