The biological and physical layer underneath tactics. Load management, recovery, conditioning, injury prevention, individual performance analysis. Football is played on the body before it's played on the pitch — performance science is what makes the tactics feasible.
External load (distance, sprints, accelerations) vs internal load (HR, RPE). The acute:chronic workload ratio and its limitations.
Sleep, nutrition, active recovery, contrast water therapy. What the evidence supports vs what is folklore.
Aerobic capacity, repeated-sprint ability, change of direction speed. Position-specific demands.
Modifiable risk factors, FIFA 11+, strength asymmetries, return-to-play criteria.
GPS metrics, heart rate variability, jump-test profiling, neuromuscular fatigue.
Tapering, warm-up structure, match-day meal timing, pre-match routines.
Football tracker vests use GPS and heart-rate sensors to measure sprint load, distance, intensity, and recovery. We explain what they measure, the major brands, and where they're heading.
7 min read
Football is the highest ankle-injury sport in the world. The four most common injuries — lateral sprain, high ankle / syndesmosis, peroneal tendon, anterior impingement — explained for coaches and players.
9 min read
The performance drop after half-time is well-documented. The 2016 review by Hammami et al. summarises which re-warm-up strategies offset it — and which are common practice without an evidence base.
5 min read
Most football coaches reach for extra conditioning blocks too quickly. The reality is that pitch size, player numbers and transition rules already determine the physical demand. Align the coaching objective with the physical aim and the extra work usually isn't needed.
5 min read
A study of 1,751 shots from the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League and Women's Champions League found no correlation between goalkeeper height and shot-stopping performance — for either gender.
5 min read
A 2024 Bundesliga study found the standardised ACWR isn't the strongest non-contact-injury predictor in football. The chronic-load component, calibrated to a player's individual lactate threshold, is.
7 min read
There is no universal answer. Soccer dominates aerobic distance, basketball dominates jump load, and American football dominates collision intensity. We compare the three sports with GPS data, contact frequency, and effective work time per match.
8 min read
Outfield footballers cover 10-12 km per match on average — but the split between high-intensity sprints and low-intensity jogging matters more than the total distance.
4 min read
Speed determines who wins races for the ball, beats defenders 1v1, and gets back to defend. We cover why speed matters and how it differs from agility.
5 min read
Cardiovascular fitness powers the repeat-sprint capacity that football demands across 90+ minutes. We cover why aerobic + anaerobic capacity both matter.
5 min read
Coordination underpins every technical action — passing, dribbling, shooting, tackling. Without it, individual fitness components don't translate to football performance.
5 min read
Reaction time determines how quickly players respond to opponent movements, ball deflections, and goalkeeper saves. Elite footballers react in 200-250ms.
5 min read
Footballers maintain fitness through a periodised mix of pitch training, gym work, recovery sessions, sleep, and nutrition. We map the weekly structure of a professional.
5 min read
A pre-match meal should be carbohydrate-rich, low-fat, and eaten 3-4 hours before kick-off. Pasta, rice, oats, and bananas are classic choices.
4 min read
Football stamina combines aerobic base, repeat-sprint capacity, and recovery between high-intensity efforts. We cover the training methods that actually transfer to match performance.
5 min read
Flexibility in football enables full range of motion for sprinting, kicking, change of direction, and aerial duels. We explain why it matters, where to focus, and how to train it.
7 min read
The right stretches for football depend on when you do them. Pre-match needs dynamic; post-match and recovery use static; daily mobility prevents injury. We cover each with the science.
7 min read
Small-sided games (SSGs) typically produce 60-120% of match load depending on pitch size and player numbers. We map the design rules for SSG load matching match demands.
5 min read
Distance per minute (m/min) normalises total distance against time on pitch — a useful intensity proxy when comparing players who play different minutes or sessions of different durations.
4 min read
Acceleration / deceleration counts are external-load metrics capturing high-intensity efforts that distance and HSR miss. We cover the thresholds and why decelerations are the under-trained side.
5 min read
Countermovement jump (CMJ) and reactive strength index (RSI) are the most-used jump tests in football monitoring. We explain the metrics and how clubs use them.
5 min read
Power — force × velocity — underpins every explosive football action: sprint accelerations, jumps, shots, tackles, and aerial duels. We explain why power outranks pure strength.
7 min read
GPS measures position via satellites; IMUs (inertial measurement units) measure acceleration / orientation via on-body sensors. Most modern football pods combine both. We explain.
5 min read
Worst-case scenario (WCS) analysis identifies the highest-intensity 1, 3, 5, or 10-minute periods within a match — informing training prescription and return-to-play targets.
5 min read
Sprint load is the volume + intensity of high-speed running a player accumulates during a match. We explain GPS thresholds, weekly load management, and how clubs prevent injuries.
8 min read
Football biomechanics is the science of how the body moves during the game — sprinting, kicking, jumping, changing direction. We break down the basics every coach and player should know.
8 min read
Football science is the multi-disciplinary application of physiology, biomechanics, psychology, nutrition, and data analytics to football. We map the field and explain why every elite club has a sports-science team.
8 min read
Mental skills in football — focus, resilience, decision-making, emotional regulation — separate elite players from talented ones. We map the psychological toolkit and how clubs train it.
7 min read
Player Load is Catapult's proprietary external-load metric — a vector magnitude derived from accelerometer data summing tri-axial accelerations. We explain how it's calculated, what it captures, and its limitations.
7 min read
Session RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) multiplied by session duration is the most-used internal-load metric in football. We cover the methodology, the CR-10 scale, validation, and practical implementation.
6 min read
The Acute-Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR) compares a player's recent (7-day) load to their longer-term (28-day) load. The ratio's relationship to injury risk is contested — we cover the methodology, the research, and the limits.
7 min read
High-speed running (HSR) is the distance a player covers above a velocity threshold — typically 5.5 m/s. We cover the standard thresholds, position-specific HSR demands, and why HSR matters more than total distance.
7 min read
Readiness monitoring combines subjective wellness scores (sleep, mood, soreness) with objective tests (CMJ, HRV) to assess whether a player is ready for high-load training. We cover the standard framework and limits.
6 min read
Football load monitoring splits into two layers: external (movement — distance, HSR, Player Load) and internal (perceived / physiological — RPE, HR, HRV). We map both, why you need both, and how they combine.
6 min read
A microcycle is the weekly training plan structure between matches. We cover the standard MD-1 / MD+1 framework, load distribution across the week, and how it adapts for two-game weeks.
6 min read
Agility — the ability to change direction quickly under control — separates elite footballers from talented ones. We cover why agility matters, how it differs from speed, and the training methods.
6 min read
Self-care frameworks for healthy engagement with football
Statistical thinking that applies equally to sports performance research
How we apply structured analytical thinking across topics
Reader requests shape our editorial roadmap. Email editor@kiqiq.com
