{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T05:19:13Z","timestamp":1787635153511,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787443200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol.","JFMK"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: The aim was to investigate the external load of different types of floaters and regular players in small-sided games (SSG) with different relative pitch sizes to inform the return-to-play process. Methods: Twenty-four professional soccer players from a Greek top-tier soccer club played SSG as regular players, internal floaters, and external floaters. Global-positioning units were utilized to investigate total distance (TD), as well as high-intensity running distances (HID), which was further divided into HID1 (15.0\u201319.9 km\/h and HID2 (20.0\u201324.9 km\/h). High-intensity running (HIR) was analyzed by distance and number of efforts (HIRnb) greater than 19.8 km\/h. Velocity zones were categorized into zones such as 10.8\u201314.4 km\/h (Zone3), 14.5\u201319.8 km\/h (Zone4), 19.9\u201324.9 km\/h (Zone5), &gt;25 km\/h (Zone6). Sprint metrics included number of sprints (Sprint\/Nm) and sprint distance (Sprint\/Dist). Acceleration bands were defined as high &gt;4 m\/s2 (ACC4), moderate 3\u20133.9 m\/s2 (ACC3), and low 0\u20132.9 m\/s2 (ACC2); and decelerations were defined as high &lt;\u22124 m\/s2 (DEC4), moderate \u22123.9\u20133 m\/s2 (DEC3), and low \u22122.9\u20130 (DEC2 m\/s2). All data were reported as relative value (standardized over a 1 min playing period). Results: Regular players showed the highest value, followed by internal floaters and external floaters for all variables, except for Zone5 distance. The majority of variables differed significantly between the regular players and the internal floaters except for TD, distance in Zone3 and Zone6, and number of ACC3, ACC4, and DEC4. ACC4 was the only variable found to be not significantly different between the regular players and the external floaters. In games with both floater types, internal floaters showed significantly higher values in all variables except for HIR, Zone6 distance, Sprint\/Dist, Sprint\/Nm, ACC3, ACC4, and DEC4. The comparison of external load variables between internal and external floaters when each player type was playing against regular players only revealed significantly higher values for all variables except for Sprint\/Dist, Sprint\/Nm, Zone6 distance, ACC3, and ACC4 for the internal floaters. Regression analyses were provided for all player types in the appropriated game format (RP with IF, RP with EF, RP with IF and EF). Conclusions: The on-field return-to-play process for individual players in the final stages incorporating SSG with different relative pitch sizes benefits from the utilization of different types of floaters. Increasing external load is ensured through starting with external floaters followed by internal floaters easing into the final role, the regular player role.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jfmk11030327","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T10:07:53Z","timestamp":1787566073000},"page":"327","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Using the Relative Pitch Size, Internal Floaters, and External Floaters During Different Small-Sided Games in Professional Soccer in the Return-to-Play Process"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Michael C.","family":"Rumpf","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany"},{"name":"Footballscience.net, 63303 Dreieich, Germany"},{"name":"Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand, AUT-University, Auckland 1142, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johannes","family":"J\u00e4ger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5637-179X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Renato","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Research, Education, Innovation, and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, 4150-564 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"N2i, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico da Maia, Universidade da Maia, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal"},{"name":"Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Universidade Polit\u00e9cnica de Viana do Castelo, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Lochmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Armitage, M., McErlain-Naylor, S.A., Devereux, G., Beato, M., and Buckthorpe, M. 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