# Body Composition and Physical Performance by Playing Position in Amateur Female Soccer Players
## 4 Discussion
[18] study reported significant differences in CMJ in favor of defenders (\(p\) = 0.002) and forwards (\(p\) = 0.01) compared to midfielders in elite female soccer players. It should be considered that goalkeepers frequently perform greater vertical and lateral jumping actions during training and matches compared to defenders, midfielders, and forwards [29]. Despite this, our findings did not report significant differences in CMJ height according to playing position. In this regard, it is essential to mention that CMJ height alone may not be sensitive enough to analyze the neuromuscular characteristics of an athlete in comparison to other CMJ metrics, such as explosiveness, fatigue, and adaptiveresponse ability [30; 31]. In this sense, the analysis of specific variables of the eccentric phase can provide valuable information about the neuromuscular characteristics of soccer players or their adaptations induced by acute/chronic training or competition stimuli [30; 31]. It has been suggested that maximal strength and power are strongly associated with muscle strength, linear velocity, and direction changeability [32]. Considering what has been mentioned, a more exhaustive CMJ analysis can help better discriminate neuromuscular differences between soccer players of different positions. About the SJ, no significant differences in terms of playing position were found. Similar results were found in semi-professional female soccer players [33] and male fourth-division players [28]. However, in a study carried out by [PERSON] et al. [34] on first-division collegiate soccer players, it was found that defenders had a greater jump height in SJ compared to midfielders, and these differences were significant (\(p<0.01\)). Based on our findings, given that the sample was made up of amateur-level female soccer players from the same city, there is a possibility that they have been subjected to the same type of training, presenting similar improvements in their physical performance. In soccer, the quadriceps muscle group is considered to play an important role in jumping and kicking the ball, while the hamstring controls running activities and stabilizes the knee during turns or tackles [35]. Along these lines, it has been shown that the level of maximum force and the rate of force development are crucial variables that influence both jump height and sprint performance [36]. However, [PERSON] et al. [37] have mentioned that maximum SJ and CMJ height are poor indicators of maximum lower extremity power in trained populations, providing weak associations between SJ or CMJ height and peak power. Therefore, considering this, jump height may not be a good discriminator of performance between different playing positions in amateur female soccer players [37]. However, in the present study of the DJ, it was reported that midfielders had significantly higher jump heights than goalkeepers and defenders. [PERSON] [38] has reported significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) in the reactive muscle strength index between amateur elite soccer players compared to middle- and lower-class soccer players. No studies have reported differences in DJ in amateur female soccer players from different playing positions. Midfielders can be classified into central defensive midfielders, central midfielders, and central attacking midfielders [39]. Central attacking midfielders have exhibited greater total distances (\(\mathrm{m}\cdot\mathrm{min}^{-1}\)) and high-speed running distances (\(\mathrm{m}\cdot\mathrm{min}^{-1}\)) than other positions; these findings are consistent with those reported in other studies [40]. In this sense, being able to generate changes in speed explosively is essential in elite soccer, along with the ability to decelerate and change direction quickly, which can be associated with an optimal and rapid stretch-shortening cycle of the muscles of the lower body [38] that may have manifested itself in the greater DJ jump height in the midfielders in our study compared to the goalkeepers, defenders, and forwards.