Biology of Sport
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Original paper

A matter of time or timing: longitudinal analysis of sensitive periods for linear running speed performance and development in elite youth soccer

Maros Kalata
1, 2
,
Jakub Lukavsky
1, 2
,
Diogo V. Martinho
3, 4
,
Craig A. Williams
5
,
Jan M. Konarski
6
,
Frantisek Zahalka
1, 2
,
Robert M. Malina
7, 8
,
Tomas Maly
1, 2, 9

  1. Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  2. SK Slavia Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
  3. CIPER, Faculdade de Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  4. CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Cruz-Quebrada- Dafundo, Portugal
  5. Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
  6. Theory of Sports Department, Poznań University of Physical Education, Poznań, Poland
  7. Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
  8. School of Public Health, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States
  9. Department of Performance, AC Sparta Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Biol Sport. 2026;43:1341–1351
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2026.161105
Online publish date: 2026/04/20
Article file
- 97_05274_Article.pdf  [5.78 MB]
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Copyright: Institute of Sport. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This license enables reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
  
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