This paper aims to compare the tactical performance of soccer players in three different playing surfaces (artificial grass, natural grass and gravel), as well as to check for differences between offensive and defensive tactical performance. The sample comprised 3,999 tactical actions performed by 84 U-13 players, being 1,136 actions on natural grass field, 2,183 on artificial grass field and 680 on gravel field. The instrument used for data collection and analysis was FUT-SAT, which assesses the tactical performance of players. In order to check for differences between variables, one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis were run. Tactical performance was not different between playing surfaces. However, in general, the defensive tactical performance proved to be poorer than the offensive one (p<0.001). Therefore, it is concluded that the playing surface had no influence on the tactical performance and players evidenced better offensive tactical performance rather than a defensive one.
Playing Surface; Soccer; Tactical Performance
