Damir Sekulic

University of Split · Faculty of Kinesiology

This study aimed to examine the effects of low-percentage ball possession teams (LPBPT) and high-percentage ball possession teams (HPBPT) on the physical and technical performance of UEFA Champions League (UCL) players. All data were obtained from group stage matches of UCL during the 2020/21 season using a semi-automatic optical tracking system. L...

Background and objectives: The incidence of injuries in rugby is extremely high, but studies have rarely examined the predictors of injury in amateur players. This study aimed to systematically analyse sports and injury factors as potential predictors of musculoskeletal injuries in senior-level amateur rugby players. Methods: The participants in th...

In order to identify match running performance (MRP) characterizing the most elite soccer match-play, this study aimed to examine position-specific differences in the MRP of players competing in “big five” (BFLTs) and “non-big five” league teams (N-BFLTs). The data were obtained from 24 teams (BFLTs; n = 14, N-BFLTs; n = 10) during the UEFA Champio...

Handball is one of the most popular team sports around the world that has become physically very demanding, related to both competitions and daily training sessions. Optimal training programs are necessary to improve performance, especially when taking into account the frequency of jump shots (vertical jumps) and handball feints (changes of directi...

There are limited data describing clinical patterns and match running performance (MRP) among players with COVID-19 infection before and after infection, particularly related to different predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as in comparison to uninfected players. This observational study was conducted during two consecutive soccer seasons in o...

Introduction: This study aims to examine can sport protect children against loneliness and, if yes, whether this relationship depends on gender and/or sports-related variables. Methods: The sample includes 762 10-year-old children (414 boys). The total score of The Children's Loneliness Scale is a dependent variable in the study, while sports parti...

Video (15 Minutes) explaining the most important findings of the Study "Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy" in the Journal of Exercise and Fitness, as part of the Special Issue "Cultural Perspectives on Physical Literacy"

Video (5 Minutes) explaining the most important findings of the Study "Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy" in the Journal of Exercise and Fitness, as part of the Special Issue "Cultural Perspectives on Physical Literacy"

Background: This study evaluated endocrine responsiveness (ER) to physical stress (contact vs. non-contact nature of play) during team handball matches, according to the playing positions, thereby contextualizing the contact nature of the handball match. Methods: The participants were ten male team handball players (24.1 ± 3.17 years, 188.2 ± 6....

Background/objective: The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) embraces different person-centered qualities (physical, cognitive, affective/psychological) necessary to lead physically active lifestyles. PL has recently gained increasing attention globally and Europe is no exception. However, scientific endeavors summarizing the current state...

Background/objective The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) embraces different person-centered qualities (physical, cognitive, affective/psychological) necessary to lead physically active lifestyles. PL has recently gained increasing attention globally and Europe is no exception. However, scientific endeavors summarizing the current state o...

Reactive agility (RAG) is a crucial factor of success in sports, but there are practically no studies dealing with RAG among children. The main aim of this study was to identify predictors of RAG among early pubescent boys and girls. The participants were primary school boys (n = 73) and girls (n = 59) aged 11-12. The criterion variable was the ori...

Study aim: This study aimed to evaluate predictors of futsal-specific change-of-direction speed and futsal-specific reactive agility in professional male futsal players. Material and methods: The players (n=75) studied were members of seven futsal teams that competed at the highest national level in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The predic...

Abstract: In the present study, we aim to assess the reliability and gender-specific validity of an original questionnaire (Q-LADR) in evaluating the knowledge of legal anti-doping regulations and to examine the gender-specific associations between Q-LADR and potential doping behavior (PDB)in senior-level professional athletes. The participants wer...

Background To clarify does physical performance affect success in highest-level soccer, the purpose of the present study was to identify differences in technical-tactical performance (TP) between teams covering high and low running performance (RP) during the UEFA Champions League (UCL) matches. Methods The RP and TP data were collected from UCL g...

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physical fitness, physical activity, and sense of coherence (SOC) in Swedish adolescents (n = 2028 males, n = 1287 females) aged 14 to 18 using a cross-sectional design. Methods: Using the Swedish Physical power Mental harmony and Social capacity (FMS) student profile...

This study aimed to determine the effect of team formation on position-specific match running performance (MRP) at highest-level football. Players’ MRP (n = 226) was observed in four team formations: 3-5-2 (n = 24), 4-4-2 (n = 44), 4-2-3-1 (n = 77) and 4-3-3 (n = 81). Central defenders in the 3-5-2 formation achieved a greater amount of high-intens...

The aim of this study was to identify the external training load (ETL) variables that are most influential on the session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) during elite soccer training. The participants (n = 29) were adult male soccer players from a single team that competed in Croatia’s highest national soccer competition in the 2021/2022 season...

The objectives of this study are to analyze handball game-related statistics in balanced games (0-2 goal difference at minute 50) in the final 10 minutes regarding the final outcome of winning or losing. i) Analyse statistical differences between winners and losers in male and female top Icelandic handball leagues and ii) calculate a discriminating...

Stress plays a significant role in competitions and in the training of sports participants, and coaches are no exception. To better cope with stressful situations, close monitoring of coaches’ stress levels before, during, and after training and competitions is recommended. According to studies, the use of cortisol (C) and alpha-amylase (AA) as bio...

Objectives: Despite the potential link between mental skills and athletic performance, little is done to examine handball players’ present level of mental skills concerning their performance. To begin with, the study has three folded aims; the first one is to examine the factor structure of Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire, which was developed in...

he long-term practice of judo can lead to various changes in the heart including increased dimensions of the left ventricle in diastole and thickening of the interventricular septum and the posterior wall of the left ventricle. This study aimed to assess left ventricular morphology and function in elite male judokas. A comparative cross-sectional s...

Resistance training (RT) can represent a challenging and stressful endeavour for those who participate in it. We aimed to investigate the acute effect of four types of RT exercise [i.e., Concentric (CONC), Isometric (ISOM), Dynamic (DYN) and Eccentric (ECC)] on psychological parameters (feeling scale: FS) and perceived internal load (RPE) in young...

Background: This investigation aimed to analyze differences in running performances amongst playing positions between the first and second halves of soccer matches and at 5-minute intervals during matches. Methods: Data were collected from 179 soccer players during 20 UEFA Champions League (UCL) 2020/2021 group stage matches. Data were examined...

The aim of this research was to examine the physical match performance and match outcome before and after coach turnover in professional soccer teams compared with a control group containing coaches working continuously for 3 consecutive seasons. Analysed data included 325 performances of teams led by dismissed coaches (DC), 313 of teams led by new...

Although running performance (RP) is considered an important factor of success in soccer, there is a lack of studies to examine this issue in highest-level soccer competition, such as UEFA Champions League (UCL). Therefore, the main objective of this study was to analyse players’ RP according to the achievement of their teams in UCL. In addition, p...

This study aimed to examine the independent effect of different match-related factors on match running performance (MRP) in elite soccer. Players’ MRPs (n = 244) were collected during UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage matches in the 2020–21 season. All MRP data were collected by the semi-automatic optical system InStat Fitness (InStat Limited...

Physical literacy (PL) is one of the main concepts related to lifelong physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF), but there is a lack of information on factors that might be associated with PL in adolescents from southeastern Europe. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between PF, participation and achievement in physical education...

Background: High-intensity muscle actions have the potential to temporarily improve the performance which has been denoted as postactivation performance enhancement. Objectives: This study determined the acute effects of different stretch-shortening (fast vs. low) and strength (dynamic vs. isometric) exercises executed during one training session o...

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, psychological and social changes and a time when habits are formed. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between physical fitness, alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption and dietary habits among adolescents according to the Swedish Physical power, Mental harmony and Social capaci...

Agility is one of the key performance factors important for prevention of falls. There is a lack of tests applicable for testing agility in untrained, older and clinical populations. The aim of tis research was to investigate the reliability and validity of the newly-designed testing protocol of change of direction speed (CODS) and reactive agility...

The objectives of the present study were: (i) to compare beach handball game-related statistics by match outcome (winning and losing teams), and (ii) to identify characteristics that discriminate performances in the match. The game-related statistics of the 72 women’s matches played in the VIII Women’s Beach Handball World Championship (2018) were...

Introduction. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test-Level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) is considered a valuable measurement tool in assessing specific soccer endurance. However, there is a lack of recent research validating this test with regard to match running performance (MRP) in elite-level soccer. Material and Methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate t...

Background: Insufficient physical activity levels (PAL) during adolescence is a major public health concern, which is even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restricting movement opportunities. This study aimed to identify PAL changes and examine the age-specific determinants of PAL in younger and older adolescents during the COVI...

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match running performance (MRP) to determine the effect of CO...

Citation: Savicevic, A.J.; Nincevic, J.; Versic, S.; Cuschieri, S.; Bandalovic, A.; Turic, A.; Becir, B.; Modric, T.; Abstract: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in sport has been the subject of numerous studies over the past two years. However, knowledge about the direct impact of COVID-19 infection on the performance of athletes is limited, and...

In combat sports, competitors are separated into weight divisions, to create equality between the athletes. Consequently, rapid weight loss (RWL) is a common practice in combat sports. Although the methods used to induce RWL are similar among athletes, currently, there are limited data concerning the RWL methodologies used by sambo athletes. Theref...

Previous studies examined training/match ratios (TMr) to determine the training load relative to the match load, but the influence of the relative training load (RTL) on success in soccer is still unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the possible influence of RTL on final match outcome in soccer (win, draw, and loss). Running perform...

Background: It has been suggested that velocity-based training (VBT) improves real-life performance in sports, such as jumping, but studies rarely examined the associations between variables derived during VBT (VBT-variables) and jumping performances. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between VBT-variables derived...

Scholastic factors (academic achievement) are hypothesized to be important determinants of health-related behaviors in adolescents, but there is a lack of knowledge on their influence on physical activity levels (PAL), especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposed lockdown. This study aimed to investigate the associations between sch...

Although associations between running performance (RP) with ball possession and team achievement in soccer are often hypothesized, actual knowledge of this association in elite soccer remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate players’ RPs according to ball possession to determine its possible influence on team achievement in the UEFA...

Verbal encouragement (VE) and listening to preferred music (PM) are considered effective ergogenic methods in strength and conditioning, but studies examining the effectiveness of these two methods simultaneously are lacking. This study analyzed the influence of PM and VE on repeated change-of-direction performance (R-CoD) in elite young basketball...

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the changes in physical activity levels (PAL). The purpose of this study was to determine the correlates of PAL during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents. This research included 209 adolescents aged 15-17 years from Croatia (89 boys, 120 girls). They were tested on anthropometrics, and fitness status (predictors)...

Background: High-intensity muscle actions have the potential to temporarily improve the performance which has been denoted as postactivation performance enhancement. Objectives: This study determined the acute effects of different stretch-shortening (fast vs. low) and strength (dynamic vs. isometric) exercises executed during one training session o...

Background: High-intensity muscle actions have the potential to temporarily improve the performance which has been denoted as postactivation performance enhancement. Objectives: This study determined the acute effects of different stretch-shortening (fast vs. low) and strength (dynamic vs. isometric) exercises executed during one training session o...

Vitamin D level is known to be a factor potentially influencing physical fitness, but few studies have examined this phenomenon among youth athletes. We aimed to evaluate the associations of vitamin D levels (as measured by 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations—25(OH)D) with various physical fitness and motor performance tests in youth football (socce...

Citation: Versic, S.; Pehar, M.; Modric, T.; Pavlinovic, V.; Spasic, M.; Uljevic, O.; Corluka, M.; Sattler, T.; Sekulic, D. Bilateral Symmetry of Jumping and Agility in Professional Basketball Players: Differentiating Performance Levels and Playing Positions. Symmetry 2021, 13, 1316.

There is an evident lack of research simultaneously investigating endurance training (ET) and resistance training (RT) with regard to their potential influence on fitness and health status in young women. This study aimed to determine the effects of RT and ET three times a week over an eight-week period on anthropometric/body composition indices, b...

It was established that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in decreased physical activity levels, potentially leading to reduced physical fitness. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on fitness indices in adolescents. We observed high school adolescents (33% girls; aged 15-17 years) divided into two cohorts....

Endurance training (ET) has multiple beneficial effects on cardiovascular health (CVH), but there is an evident lack of knowledge on differential effects of various types of ET on indices of CVH in women. The aim of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of two different types of ET on changes in indicators of CVH in apparently healthy adult w...

Objectives: The physical activity level (PAL) has significantly decreased as a result of the social distancing and lockdown related to the COVID‑19 pandemic, but there is a lack of knowledge on the correlates of PAL during the pandemic. The aim of this research was to examine the influence of pre-pandemic sports participation and substance use and...

Background and Objective: Although smoking and the physical activity level (PAL) are important determinants of health status in adolescence, there is a lack of information on the relationship between smoking and PAL in early adolescence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the gender-specific relationship between smoking and PAL in 14-to-16...

Aerobic performance is considered an important determinant of match running performance in soccer, but studies have rarely investigated this issue in top-level players. This study examined the possible associations between direct measures of aerobic performance and match running performance in elite soccer players. Aerobic performance was tested at...

Objectives: The similarity in joint angles and performance between the deadlift and vertical jumps was previously displayed. Additionally, the hexagonal barbell produces greater peak power compared to performance with traditional Olympic barbell. To optimally develop power and performance in explosive tasks in sport (such as jumps), training with t...

The aim of this study was (i) to examine associations between training load during the week and match outcomes; (ii) to evidence position-specific differences between playing positions of training load and match running performances in top-level soccer/football. Training load and match running performances were evaluated through external load pa...

Children’s health behaviors are highly influenced by their parents and family. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the parental/familial factors associated with physical activity levels (PALs) among older adolescents. The participants were 766 adolescents, who were prospectively observed at baseline (when they were 16 years of age), at first...

Background: Due to its association with the risk of falling and consequent injury, the importance of agility is widely recognized, but no study so far has examined the different facets of agility in an untrained/clinical population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability, validity, and correlates of newly developed tests of non-plan...

There is an evident lack of studies examining the pursuit of excellence in futsal. The aims of this study were to evaluate anthropometric and physiological variables that may contribute to distinguishing among performance levels in professional futsal players and to evaluate correlates of those variables. The participants were 75 male professionals...

The positive effects of dance on health indices in youth are widely recognized, but participation in dance is accompanied with a certain risk of injury. This prospective study aimed to investigate injury occurrence and to evaluate the possible influences of specific predictors on the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems and injuries in adolescent...

Running performances (RPs) are known to be important parameters of success in football (soccer), but there is a lack of studies where RPs are contextualized regarding applied tactical solutions. This study aims to quantify and analyze the differences in position-specific RPs in professional football, when games are played with three defensive playe...

Parental/familial factors are important determinants of the physical activity level (PAL) in children and adolescents, but studies rarely prospectively evaluate their relationships. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in physical activity levels among adolescents from Bosnia and Herzegovina over a two-year period and to determine parental/fami...

The aim of this study was to identify associations between aerobic fitness (AF) and game performance indicator (GPI) in elite football. Participants were professional football players (males, n = 16; age: 23.76 ± 2.64; body height: 181.62 ± 7.09 cm; body mass: 77.01 ± 6.34 kg). AF testing was conducted by direct measurement and included VO2max, run...

Study aim: The aim of this study was to determine the fitness profiles of senior and junior futsal players and to identify potential differences between the studied age groups. Materials and methods: 44 male futsal players from 5 professional futsal teams participated in this study. Subjects were divided into two age groups (seniors [>18 years; n =...