Acute Effects of Dynamic and Static Warm-Up Methods on Soccer Skills and Athletic Performance in 12–14-Year-Old Soccer Players

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of different warm-up protocols, including no additional warm-up, static warm-up (SWU), and dynamic warm-up (DWU), on changes in soccer-specific technical skills and physical performance parameters between pre- and post-tests in male soccer players aged 12–14 years. Twenty male athletes regularly training in the youth academy of the same soccer club voluntarily participated in the study. Using a randomized within-subject crossover design, all participants completed three warm-up conditions (control/no additional warm-up, SWU, and DWU) on separate testing days with a five-day wash-out period between sessions. Soccer-specific technical performance was evaluated using the Yeagley ball juggling, passing, ball control (slalom), and shooting tests. Physical performance assessments included vertical jump (VJ), standing long jump (SLJ), Tagility, and 20-m sprint tests. Data normality was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, and repeated-measures ANOVA was performed for statistical analysis, with the significance level set at p<0.05. The findings indicated that a statistically significant difference was observed only in the T-agility test results (p<0.05), with the DWU protocol showing superior T-agility performance compared with the SWU condition. No significant differences were detected among the warm-up protocols in the remaining physical performance variables or soccer-specific technical skill tests. This study contributes to the literature by jointly evaluating soccer-specific technical skills and physical performance responses to different warm-up protocols in adolescent soccer players. In conclusion, DWU might acutely improve agility performance in youth soccer players, but appears to not offer short-term benefits for other performance parameters or technical skills. The results might offer coaches some initial guidance in selecting warm-up strategies.