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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Allometric scaling and age-related

differences in change of direction speed
performances of young soccer players
Aptitude changer rapidement de direction : effet de lge et
calcul des indices allomtriques chez les jeunes footballeurs
Y. Negra a,, H. Chaabne a,c, M. Hammami a, R. Khlifa a,b,
T. Gabbett d, Y. Hachana a,b
a

Research Unit Sport Performance & Health, Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar
Said, Tunis, Tunisia
b
Higher Institute of Sports and Physical Education, Manouba University, Tunis, Tunisia
c
National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia
d
School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia
Received 4 June 2015; accepted 20 October 2015

KEYWORDS
Change of direction
speed;
Body size;
Allometric scaling

Summary
Purpose. The purposes of this study were to compare change of direction speed (CODS) performances between different age categories (i.e., U-10, U-12, U-13, and U-18) and to develop
allometric exponents for scaling this quality.
Material and method. Data were gathered with the participation of 101 male soccer players (mean SD; age = 12.5 2.9 years, mass = 44.4 14.7 kg, height = 149.3 17.7 cm, and leg
length = 75.7 13.1 cm). All players performed the Illinois change of direction speed test
(ICDST).
Results. U-18 players achieved signicantly better results in ICDST compared with the other
groups, whereas U-10 players had the lowest performances (F = 48.78, P < 0.0001). In regards
to U-12 and U-13 soccer players, no signicant differences were established between them
(P > 0.05). The ICDST performances were signicantly associated with body mass (r = 0.58;
P < 0.0001), height (r = 0.75; P < 0.0001) and leg length (r = 0.75; P < 0.0001). No correlations
between allometrically scaled ICDST performance and anthropometric measures were observed
(all P > 0.05), indicating the effectiveness of allometric exponents in partialing out the effect
of anthropometric measures on ICDSTs compared to ratio scaling.

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Yassinenegra@hotmail.fr (Y. Negra).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2015.10.003
0765-1597/ 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Negra Y, et al. Allometric scaling and age-related differences in change of direction
speed performances of young soccer players. Sci sports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2015.10.003

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Y. Negra et al.
Conclusion. Results indicated differences in CODS performance among soccer players of different age categories. These results demonstrated that developing allometric exponents are
effective in controlling for anthropometric measures.
2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

MOTS CLS
Changement rapide
de direction ;
Anthropomtrie ;
Indice allomtrique

Rsum
Objectifs. Cette tude a eu pour objectifs (a) lanalyse de leffet de lge sur laptitude
changer rapidement de direction, value par le test Illinois, chez des jeunes footballeurs (i.e.,
U-10, U-12, U-13, et U-18) ; (b) la dtermination de lexposant allomtrique de relativisation
des performances ce test.
Matriels et mthodes. Cent un footballeurs ont particip cette tude (ge = 12,5 2,9 ans,
corporelle = 44,4 14,7 kg,
taille = 149,3 17,7 cm,
longueur
des
membres
masse
infrieurs = 75,7 13,1 cm) et ont tous ralis le test Illinois de changement rapide de
direction.
Rsultats. Les joueurs de moins de 18 ans (U-18) ont ralis la meilleure performance dans
le test de changement rapide de direction, par contre les joueurs de moins de 10 ans (U-10)
ont enregistr la plus faible performance (F = 48,78, p < 0,0001). Aucune diffrence signicative
na t enregistre entre les joueurs de moins de 12 ans (U-12) et ceux de moins de 13 ans (U13) (p > 0,05). La performance au test Illinois a t signicativement corrle avec la masse
corporelle (r = 0,58 ; p < 0,0001), la taille (r = 0,75 ; p < 0,0001) et la longueur des membres
infrieurs (r = 0,75 ; p < 0,0001). Les performances exprimes sous forme allomtriques ont
perdu leurs corrlations signicatives avec leurs indices anthropomtriques respectifs rvlant
la validit des indices allomtriques calculs dans cette tude.
Conclusion. Laptitude changer rapidement de direction value par le test Illinois chez
les footballeurs diffre selon les catgories dge. Nos rsultats indiquent lefcacit de calculer les indices allomtriques an de contrler leffet des mesures anthropomtriques sur la
performance.
2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits rservs.

1. Introduction
Apart from the psychology and the tactical intelligence of
a soccer player, his or her physiological attributes (e.g.
strength, speed, and agility) play an essential role in playing
success [1]. Agility, in particular, is an important physical quality for soccer players, in view of the great and/or
various number of situations within the game that require
high-speed and rapid total body movements in response
to the action of team-mates, opponents and/or the ball
[2]. Consequently, soccers training program should incorporate specic exercises directed towards the development of
agility with an emphasis on technique, sprint and strength
training, and the development of perception and decision
making [3]. In this context, several authors have argued
that change of direction speed (CODS) is a prerequisite for
successful participation in modern-day team sports, particularly soccer, and it would seem extremely benecial for
strength and conditioning practitioners to identify those
training techniques that may best optimize CODS performance [47].
Actually, sport scientists are in permanent search for
effective methods that allow the identication of particular physical characteristics that might contribute to sport
performance optimization. To that end, physical testing constitutes the unique and the common effective method that
leads to a successful performance by an appropriate talent
identication and training program follow-up.

Several number of agility eld tests that try to mimic

the movement patterns of team sporting performance have
been developed. In this context, we can quote the T-test
[8], the Illinois agility test [9], the 505 test [10], the L-run
test [11], the zigzag test [7], the Hexagon test [12], the hop
test, the single hop for distance test, the triple hop for distance test, the 6-m timed hop test and the crossover hop
for distance test [13]. Up to now, it seems that the Illinois
change of direction speed test (ICDST) is one of the most
practiced agility assessment test within team sports practitioners [14,15]. It has been suggested recently that ICDST is
a valid and reliable test in assessing the CODS ability in team
sport athletes [15]. Moreover, ICDST has been often considered as a standard protocol for the assessment of change of
direction speed test [10]. Apart from a high overall validity
[15], the test could have an advantage of ecological validity
since it includes generic cues that closely mimic the majority of movement patterns of soccer [15]. It is well recognized
that the involvement of young athletes in soccer training at
an early age is increasing substantially all over the world.
In order to achieve high-level soccer performance, young
athletes must develop a variety of fundamental motor skills
during childhood. However, each physical attribute requires
special attention in a particular age-related period. The pattern of improvement is not uniform for all the tasks. In
this context, it has been argued that running speed performance improves from 5 to 18 years and acceleration after 13
years. In regards to agility performance, it has been revealed

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to improve mostly between 5 and 8 years and continually
improves up to 18 years [16]. Additionally, these ndings
suggest that there are three main age-related periods suitable for the development of agility in young athletes: i.e.,
accelerated running from 12 to 14 years, slalom running at
13 years, and interval speed training at 15 years [17].
From the several studies published dealing with young
soccer players, little attention has been directed toward
agility and sport-specic skill assessment, especially those
addressing age-related differences [1820].
An important issue for researchers and trainers is the
effect of body size on speed, power, strength, and agility.
For instance, athletes with larger body mass often display
a greater amount of fat free mass tissue and consequently
greater performance during functional tests [2124]. Tartaruga et al. [25] highlighted the need to use parameters
that contribute in reducing the potential effect of body mass
when comparing intra- and inter-groups with individuals of
different body mass, in order to remove the potential confounders of the differences in body mass. Such an approach
is named allometric scaling which is based on the theory of
geometric similarity, which holds that all humans have the
same shape and differ only in size [26,27]. This scale offers
an effective method for normalizing athlete performance
and is represented by means of a regression equation that
indicates the behavior of a variable Y in relation to the
variable body mass X (Y = aXb ) where a is the characteristic of the class analyzed and b, i.e. the allometric
exponent, determines the percentage of mass to be associated with Y. Body height is another important variable
that should be taken into account in scaling physical performances because limb length, which is proportional to
body height, can inuence torque and consequently athlete performance. To the authors knowledge, there is no
research describing the effect of anthropometric parameters on young soccer players CODS performance.
As such, the purposes of this study were to:
compare CODS performance between different age categories (i.e., U-10, U-12, U-13, and U-18);
establish the relationship between anthropometric
parameters (i.e. body mass, height and leg length) and
CODS performance;
derive two scaling models (i.e., ratio and allometric) for
CODS performances normalization and identifying the
difference between them.

3
thoroughly informed about the purpose and the potential risks of the study. The anthropometric measures
(means SD) of all participants are provided in Table 1.

2.2. Procedure
The present experience was conducted during the second
half of the competitive season (i.e., March-April, 2012).
It is important to stress that all participants have been
familiar with the ICDST in four occasions within the two
weeks preceding the testing. All testing sessions were performed at the same time of the day (i.e., 17:0019:00)
in the absence of wind and in an environmental condition
of 2326 C for temperature and 5159% for humidity. All
participants were instructed to maintain consistent dietary,
sleeping patterns, and to refrain from strenuous activity
48 hours before the beginning of the evaluation sessions. All
the players were similarly instructed and verbally encouraged in order to give their maximal effort during each ICDST
session. Before testing, athletes completed a supervised 15min warm-up, including sideways and backward running,
skipping exercises, four acceleration runs over 40 m at submaximal speed and four 10- to 30-m sprints at maximal
speed [28]. Five minutes of passive rest after the warm-up,
the ICDST was performed on a synthetic turf that was usually used for tness-training sessions. Each player performed
3 trials of the ICDST interspersed by at least 3 minutes of
passive recovery. The ICDST test performance was recorded
using an electronic timing system (Microgate SARL, Italy).
The pairs of the electronic timing system sensors mounted
on tripods were set at 1 m above the oor and were positioned 3 m apart facing each other on either side of the
starting and nishing lines. All the players performed the
ICDST with a self-administered start. The fastest attempt
among the three trials was recorded and considered as the
nal performance for each athlete.

2.3. Anthropometry

2. Methods

All anthropometric measurements were conducted by the

same qualied researcher which is an expert in this area.
The following anthropometric measurements were taken:
height (0.1 cm, Hotain, UK), sitting height (0.1 cm, Holtain,
UK), and body mass (0.1 kg) was recorded using a portable
scale (Tanita BF683 W, Munich, Germany). Sitting height was
subtracted from height to estimate leg length (0.1 cm).
During all measurements procedures, participants were
barefoot and dressed in shorts only.

2.1. Subjects

2.4. Illinois CODS test (ICDST)

One hundred and one trained young male soccer players of

different playing positions were enrolled in this study (U-10,
n = 23; U-12, n = 25; U-13, n = 33; U-18, n = 20). All participants were members of the same football club. The U-10
and U-12 groups undertook three 1.5-h training sessions per
week and played a 50-min match on the weekend. The U-13
were engaged on four weekly training sessions of the same
duration and played a match on the weekend that last for
70 min. The U-18 trained ve times per week and played
a 90-min match on the weekend. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants parents after being

The ICDST is set up with 4 cones used to mark the start,

2 turning points, and another 4 cones were placed down
the center on an equal distance (3.3 m) apart (Fig. 1). The
athlete sprints 10 m, turns and returns back to the starting line, and then he swerves in and out of four markers,
completing two 10-m sprints to nish the CODS course [14].
The players were instructed not to cut over the markers but
to run around them. If a subject failed to do this, the trial
was stopped and re-attempted after the requisite recovery
period. The SEM and the ICC for test-retest reliability [29]
for the ICDST were 2.33% and 0.92, respectively.

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Stature characteristics and ICDST performances (mean SD) of young soccer players according to their age group.
Age group

Age (y)
Height (cm)

8.79 0.28
125.34 5.70

U-12
(n = 25)
11.68 0.20
148.36 6.2

U-13
(n = 33)

U-18
(n = 20)

12.61 0.42

17.36 0.9

1022.49

0.97

0.000

150.39 6.24

176.15 6.27

246.10

0.88

0.000

Body mass (kg)

30.52 4.54

39.01 5.14

42.99 8.58

69.55 3.66

156.01

0.83

0.000

Ll (cm)

56.47 4.69

76.65 3.93

78.07 7.01

92.55 4.33

167.05

0.84

0.000

ICDST (s)

20.01 0.89

18.08 0.77

18.02 0.81

17.35 0.52

48.76

0.60

0.000

Scheffe
comparisons

T2 of Tamhan
comparisons

ARTICLE IN PRESS

U-10
(n = 23)

U-10 < U-12,

U-13 and U-18
U-10 < U-12,
U-13 and U-18;
U-12 < U-18;
U-13 < U-18
U-10 < U-12,
U-13 and U-18;
U-12 < U-18;
U-13 < U-18
U-10 < U-12,
U-13 and U-18;
U-12 < U-18;
U-13 < U-18
U-10 > U-12,
U-13 and U-18;
U-12 > U-18;
U-13 > U-18

F: F of Fisher; f: Cohens f; P: P value; Ll: leg length; ICDST: Illinois change of direction speed test; U-10: under ten years old; U-12: under twelve years old; U-13: under thirteen years
old; U-18: under eighteen years old.

Y. Negra et al.

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Table 1

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Change of direction performance

Figure 1

Layout of the Illinois change of direction speed test.

2.5. Statistical analysis

Results are expressed as means standard deviations (SD).
All the collected data has been analyzed for normality
through the Shapiro-Wilks test. All data showed normal distribution, which justies the use of one-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) to evaluate the between-age group differences, using SPSS v.19.0 program for Windows (SPSS, Inc,
Chicago, IL, USA). The Scheffe or T2 of Tamhan post-hoc
(when homogeneity of variance was violated, i.e., Levens
test is signicant) tests were used to specify where signicant differences lay according to the results of Levens test.
Pearsons correlation was used to determine relationships
between ICDST performance and the different anthropometric variables. Vincent [30] has suggested that an absolute
correlation coefcient of 0.50.7 is considered low, one of
0.70.8 is considered moderate, and one of 0.9 or above
is considered high. Effect size (f) was calculated (large
(f = 0.40), medium (f = 0.25), and small (f = 0.10)) so as to
evaluate the practical signicance of observed differences
[31] using the G*Power software version 2.0 for PC [32]. The
model of equation for the ratio and allometric scaling methods used in the current study was Y = aXb , where Y is the
ICDST performance, a, the scaling coefcient, X, the
body size variable, and b is the power exponent. Rearranging the above equation meant that normalized ICDST
performance = Y/Xb . For the ratio scaling, the standard
exponent of 1.0 was used so that each body size variable
was scaled to the power of 1.0 [27]. For allometric scaling,
the derived ICDST performance exponents were determined
after plotting both the performance and body size variables
on a log-log scale [33]. The slope of the linear regression
lines were then used as the scaling exponents for body mass,
height, and leg length in the normalized performance equation = Y/Xb . Appropriateness of the allometric models was
evaluated using the regression diagnostics as described by

Batterham and George [34]. Regression diagnostics were

accomplished using the Shapiro-Wilks test to evaluate the
normality of residuals; homoscedasticity was assessed using
the test of Koenker. The relationships between the body
size variables and ICDST performances (both absolute and
normalized expression) were evaluated using Pearson product moment correlations. The effectiveness of each scaling
method was assessed using correlations, with a lack of significance between normalized performance and the body size
variables indicating linear independence [35]. The criterion
for signicance for all tests was set at P < 0.05.

3. Results
3.1. Body size and ICDST test performances
The mean anthropometric parameter results as well as ICDST
performances of young soccer players according to their age
categories are presented on Table 1. Players from the U18 group were signicantly taller and heavier (P < 0.0001)
than the U-13, U-12 and U-10 athletes and performed signicantly better CODS performance. Whereas, U-10 players
signicantly exhibited the smallest body mass, height, and
leg length and the lowest CODS performance. Differences
observed between U-12 and U-13 regarding anthropometric parameters and CODS performance were not signicant
(P > 0.05).

3.2. Body size and ICDST performance

relationships
Signicant correlations were found between body mass,
height, leg length and ICDST performances (r = 0.58 to
0.75 P < 0.0001). CODS performances were more highly correlated with both height and leg length. The shared variance

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Table 2

Relationship between the body size variables and ICDST performances in young soccer players (n = 101).

Mean SD
ICDST (s)
18.33 1.21
r (95% CI)
R2
P
All Exp
(95% CI)

Height (cm)

Body mass (kg)

Ll (cm)

149.29 17.61

44.42 14.61

75.67 13.04

0.75 (0.82 to 0.65)

0.59
< 0.0001
0.41 (0.48 to 0.34)

0.58 (0.69 to 0.43)

0.39
< 0.0001
0.13 (0.16 to 0.098)

0.75 (0.83 to 0.66)

0.60
< 0.0001
0.27 (0.32 to 0.23)

Ll: leg length; ICDST: Illinois change of direction speed test; r: Pearsons correlation coefcient; R2 : coefcient of determination; 95%
CI: 95% condence intervals; All Exp: Allometric exponent.

between the ICDST and these two anthropometric measurements exceeded 50% (Table 2).

3.3. Normalizing performance for body mass,

height and leg length
Normality of the distribution was veried. The results of
the Koenker test revealed that the raw residuals data of
the ICDST scaled for body mass, height, and leg length
were homoscedastic (2 = 3.53; P = 0.06; 2 = 1.78; P = 0.18;
2 = 0.03; P = 0.87, respectively), Thereby, data from our
study meet the criteria of regression diagnostics including
the normality of residuals for allometric scaling as suggested
by Batterham and George. The derived and proposed exponents for the ICDST are presented in Table 2. Signicant correlations were noted between ICDST and height, body mass
and leg length once its performance was normalized using
ratio scaling (r = 0.82 to 0.86; P < 0.001). However, no
signicant correlations were identied between ICDST performances when using allometric scaling approach via the
measured body size indices in young soccer players (Table 3).

4. Discussion
The main aims of the present investigation were to compare
the CODS performance within young soccer players of different age categories, the relationship between their body
size (i.e. body mass, height and leg length) and CODS performance and the use of two scaling methods (i.e., ratio and
allometric) on this sport-specic skill response. Results from
our study highlight a signicant difference on CODS performance between age categories. Additionally, a signicant
relationship has been established between both height and
leg length with CODS performance. Finally, the use of allometric (proposed exponents) scaling normalized approach in
CODS performance expression was more effective than the
one based on the ratio scaling method.
Typical age-related differences in body mass (P < 0.0001;
f = 0.83; [Large]), height (P < 0.0001; f = 0.88; [Large]) and
leg length (P < 0.0001; f = 0.84 [Large]) were evident in the
present study. There was a mean height, body mass, and
leg length difference of 23.02 cm, 8.49 kg, and 20.18 cm,
respectively between the U-10 and U-12 age groups and
of 25.76 cm, 26.56 kg, and 14.48 cm between the U-13 and
U-18 age groups, respectively. In contrast, the observed

Table 3 Correlations between ratio scaled and allometrically scaled ICDST performances with body size variables
(n = 101).
Variables

ICDST (mean SD)

Height (cm)

Ratio scaled
(scm1 )
0.13 0.02
r = 0.94
P < 0.001

Allometrically
scaled
(scm0.41 )
147.86 6.13
r = 0.01
P = 0.87

Body mass (kg)

Ratio scaled
(skg1 )
0.46 0.15
r = 0.92;
P < 0.001

Allometrically
scaled
(skg0.13 )
29.92 1.51
r = 0.04;
P = 0.68

Ll (cm)
Ratio scaled
(scm1 )
0.25 0.06
r = 0.95
P < 0.001

Allometrically
scaled
(scm0.27 )
60.25 2.48
r = 0.02
P = 0.83

Ll: leg length; ICDST: Illinois change of direction speed test;

r: correlation coefcient of Pearson.

differences in body mass, height, and leg length between

the U-12 and U-13 age groups were not statistically signicant. The largest difference in mean height (25.76 cm)
was observed between the U-13 and U-18 age groups. This
difference can be explained by the fact that the peak height
velocity for boys generally occurs at mean age of 13.5 years
[28,36]. As was the case with the mean height data, the
largest mean body mass difference was revealed between
the U-13 and U-18 age groups (26.56 kg). Additionally,
there was an increasing difference in mean body mass in
relation to age categories. The increases in body mass,
height and leg length between the older and younger age
groups athletes within this study correlate with physical
development normally observed post-puberty [28,37,38].
As expected, results of the CODS performance within
the U-18 age groups were signicantly better than those

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recorded in the U-10, U-12, and U-13 age groups (P < 0.0001;
f = 0.59; [Large]). The signicant differences in ICDST performance, in particular for the U-13 and U-18 age groups, are
consistent with previous studies that have investigated the
inuence of maturation on maximal effort exercise [3941].
These improvements in performance related to age categories are likely to be a function of body mass and height
differences discussed above. This is supported by the observation that the greatest performance differences occurred
between U-13 and U-18 age groups, where we also observed
the greatest differences in both body mass and height
(Table 1). Growth would appear to contribute signicantly
to enhanced motor performance with age; this assumption
might explain the lack of differences in ICDST performances
between players from U-12 and U-13 age groups (Table 1).
It is presumed that the higher CODS performance in larger
and older players than smaller and younger ones might be
related to their initial faster rate of force development.
To achieve maximal speed, younger players need a longer
acceleration phase. These ndings might suggest that older
players have better general adaptation to changes of direction and body position that are present in the motor skill
design of the ICDST, which comprises more than 12 changes
of direction.
According to Sheppard and Young [2], anthropometric
factors could potentially be related to CODS performance.
However, comprehensive investigations into anthropometric factors and CODS performance have yet to be developed
[2,42]. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the
rst study that analyzes the relationship between CODS performance, evaluated by the ICDST, with body mass, height,
and leg length variables. It was revealed that these body
size variables were signicantly related to CODS performance (Table 2). Hence, it seems that body size is one of
the major factors that might affect soccer players performance during CODS. The relationships observed herein
suggest that CODS performance evaluated by the ICDST
is more related to height (r = 0.751; P < 0.001) and leg
length(r = 0.756; P < 0.001) than to body mass (r = 0.58;
P < 0.001). The shared variance (R2 as a %) between the ICDST
performance and both height and leg length exceeded 50%
(Table 2) indicating that more than 50% of the differences
observed between the different age groups, in regards to
CODS performance, can be explained by these two anthropometric variables.
To normalize ICDST performance in young soccer players,
both ratio and allometric scaling methods have been used.
One litmus test to assess the validity of a normalizing
technique for body size indices is to correlate the scaled
variable with each respective body size index. The approach
is considered valid if no relationship exists [4345]. The
ratio and allometric scaling (proposed exponents) methods
were effective in normalizing CODS performance during the
ICDST with the former far more superior to ratio scaling.
Ratio scaling has been proven to penalize heavier subjects
[21,33,43] highlighting a major limitation of normalizing
performance by simply dividing the performance outcome
by a body size unit to correct for body size. It is important
to note that ratio scaling improved correlations between
ICDST performance and body mass (from 0.75 to 0.94),
height (from 0.58 to 0.92) and leg length (from 0.75 to
0.95). The results of the present study extend the ndings

7
of Crewther et al., whereas the use of allometric scaling
(with calculated exponents) of CODS performance, removed
the effect of body mass, height, and leg length on the ICDST
performance (Table 3). Identical observations have been
reported when using the same approach to normalize power,
strength, and speed data [23,35,43,44,46]. The current
results as those previously reported reinforce the use of
allometric scaling approach instead of the ratio scaling to
effectively normalize performance in both athletes and
nonathletic populations.
A limitation of the present study was that the soccer
players were grouped by chronological age and comparisons
among groups did not take into account the biological maturity of players. Moreover, muscle mass differences among
players were not determined. In view of the fact that the
present results were obtained on a sample of male young
soccer players, practitioners should be cautious not to generalize the ndings of this study to female young players
since females growth and maturation, qualitative muscular
factors, and performance variables do not parallel those of
males [37,47,48].

5. Conclusion
Overall, the present investigation emphasizes that anthropometric and CODS performances differ among young soccer
athletes of different age categories. Heavier and taller players were quicker in the CODS tasks. The CODS performance
was signicantly associated with the body size indices (i.e.,
body mass, height and leg length). Moreover, the present
investigation attempted to normalize performance via the
development of an allometric scaling model and evaluated the inuence of body mass, height, and leg length
on allometrically scaled CODS performance. The allometric
exponents and the allometrically scaled normative values in
the current study may provide more effective normalization
than using ratio scaling for young soccer players.

Disclosure of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

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Please cite this article in press as: Negra Y, et al. Allometric scaling and age-related differences in change of direction
speed performances of young soccer players. Sci sports (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2015.10.003