Football Football science
There's more money in football than ever before. And this has had
one important consequence - football science is now big business. It's making an impact on everything from training regimes to the design of the ball.
Are you a natural footballer?
Good
footballers must have something in their genes. Researchers have discovered a link between the length of a footballer's ring finger and their ability as a player.
They measured the difference in length between the ring and index fingers of top players. Players whose ring fingers were longer compared to their index fingers were more likely to be elite players. Some of the players found to have long ring fingers are Bryan Robson, Ossie Ardiles, Glenn Hoddle, Sir Stanley Matthews and Gazza.
There might be a sensible explanation for this finding. When a male foetus is between eight and twelve weeks old, certain parts of his body become sensitive to the hormone testosterone. The heart, lungs and brain are all affected and so are the fingers.
It seems that fingers, although they don't help a footballer in any major way, are an indicator of how much testosterone they received at this crucial stage of development. This might increase their strength and spatial awareness.
Both are useful qualities, but what every footballer needs on top of that is rigorous training.
Training for Football Fitness
The fitness training of the England squad has been honed to near perfection. Jogging up and down the pitch a few times is not enough. In the course of a match a midfield player will run seven miles.
What footballers really need is explosive power. This allows them to switch between rapid bursts of sprinting and leaping into headers. Footballers can get this explosive power by using a training method called 'plyometrics'.
Plyometric training
In the 1960s, athletes in the Soviet Union used plyometric exercises to improve their performance in jumping events. Gradually, the technique became accepted as a valuable tool for many sports that involve sprinting and jumping.
Muscles can undergo two different types of
contractions:
· concentric contractions that shorten muscles
· eccentric contractions that lengthen muscles and hold them under tension
When a muscle in your upper arm contracts concentrically, your hand moves towards your shoulder as the muscle shortens.
Eccentric contractions come into action when the body slows down and are there to maintain stability. When you are running and suddenly stop, your leg muscles will contract eccentrically.
Footballers need to run, stop and jump in quick bursts. So their muscles need to switch between concentric and eccentric contractions in a fraction of a second.
The aim of plyometric training is to make that fraction of a second even shorter. These exercises not only train the muscles, but also the nerve fibres controlling the muscles.
Training exercises
Plyometrics needs to be approached with caution. Athletes risk injury if they perform the exercises before having built up enough strength. Exercises include the 'depth jump' where footballers leap from 5ft platforms and try to spring up again as soon as they hit the floor. Other techniques include hopping repeatedly on one leg and bounding forwards with both legs together.
In addition to their strict fitness regime, footballers have to watch what they eat and drink
The Best Food for Footballers
In the past, footballers might have sat down to a big fried breakfast – or even a roast dinner - before a football match. In the new era of professional football, the diet of modern players has been radically reformed. A healthy diet helps to prevent injuries and boost fitness.
The Wenger diet
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, is known for his scientific approach to feeding his team. When he first came to the club in 1996, he immediately altered the players' dinner menus.
Sugar, red meat, chips, fried foods and dairy proe out. Vegetables, fish, chicken and plenty of water were definitely in.
Arsene goes even further and uses a 'pee chart' to measure the level of hydration of his players. Their first pee of the day is measured against a colour chart to make sure they are drinking enough water.
Pre-match spuds
French nutritionists heavily criticised the pre-match diet of the England players in Euro '96. Their menu of tomato soup, spaghetti bolognese and toast was said to be more likely to produce wind than a win.
Potatoes, according to French scientists, make the best meal on the day of a game.
They contain glucides, which deliver a steady flow of muscular energy. They also contain useful vitamins. According to one piece of research, a player should consume 200-300 grams of potatoes, boiled for 20 minutes, exactly three hours before going to the pitch