(11) SHOOTING PROFICIENCY AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ARENA SOCCER ATHLETES

Purpose: Soccer shooting, a complex skill requiring both physical power and technical precision, directly impacts goal-scoring opportunities. However, the relationship between athletes’ physical performance and shooting skill proficiency remains underexplored for soccer players. This study sought to examine the relationships between physical performance metrics and shooting efficiency in soccer players. Methods: 32 professional Major Arena League Soccer (MALS) athletes (age: 24.1 ± 5.5 yrs, height: 181.2 ± 7.2 cm, mass: 70.7 ± 11.3 kg, % body fat: 14.3 ± 3.9%) participated in this study. Physical performance assessments included acceleration and sprinting speed (30 m Sprint), change of direction (CoD) speed (505 test), absolute strength (Isometric Mid-thigh Pull [IMTP]), explosive strength (Countermovement Jump [CMJ]), reactive strength (RSI) (30 cm Drop Jump) and anaerobic endurance (Yo-Yo IRT2). Shooting proficiency was evaluated using the Rosch Shooting Test, where each athlete performed 12 total shots (6 with dominant foot, 6 with non-dominant foot). Shooting accuracy was determined by high-speed camera and digital point-based scoring grid. Shooting speed was measured with speed radar. Exploratory Data Analysis with Pearson’s correlation (p ≤ 0.05) was used as statistical analyses to identify relationships between physical attributes on shooting metrics. Results: Across the 32 professional MALS athletes, the average shooting speed was 92.7 ± 7.42 km/h. The mean shooting accuracy score was 16.5 ± 8.47. Athletes with greater IMTP Peak Force (2884 ± 332 N) tended to have higher shooting speed (r = 0.498, p = 0.004). Conversely, those with higher Yo-Yo IRT2 endurance level (19.7 ± 3.98) exhibited lower shooting speeds (r = -0.437, p = 0.012). For shooting accuracy, a few strong correlations were observed with 10m acceleration time (r = -0.452), 30m sprint time (r = 0.428), and drop jump RSI (r = -0.435); however, no statistically significant correlations were observed with any physical performance metric (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Stronger athletes tend to produce higher shot velocities, while those with greater aerobic endurance exhibit lower shot velocities. Physical metrics were not significantly associated with shooting accuracy. However, further research is needed to explore these relationships in greater depth. These findings suggest potential associations between physical attributes and shooting proficiency but do not imply direct causation. Practical Applications: Coaches and practitioners should consider how different physical attributes relate to shooting performance in professional arena soccer athletes. Physical training plans can be tailored to position-specific demands, balancing the need for shooting power versus shooting accuracy. However, modifying these physical attributes should be approached with caution, as improving one area may not necessarily enhance shooting ability and could have unintended trade-offs. Acknowledgements: "The authors would like to acknowledge the support of this work by the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance and the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation."