20 Jul Professional Footballers Spend 82% of Their Movement Time Below 14 km/h
Around 82% of movement time and 72% of total distance in elite football occur below 14 km/h. The difference between these two figures reveals not only how players move, but also where much of football performance is actually produced.
High-speed running and sprinting dominate many discussions about football performance. They are easy to identify, physically demanding and often associated with decisive actions.
But they represent only a small part of the game’s complete movement structure.
A recent study based on optical tracking data from 100 professional LALIGA matches analysed the full distribution of player velocities rather than focusing only on predefined high-speed thresholds. Across defenders, midfielders and forwards, the distributions showed two clear and recurrent peaks, approximately around 5 km/h and 10 km/h. These correspond broadly to walking and jogging, while higher speeds form a progressively smaller tail of the distribution.
Based on the area represented by these published curves, approximately 82% of observed movement time occurs below 14 km/h.
We complemented this finding with an analysis of complete-season LALIGA EA Sports 2025/26 data. Goalkeepers were excluded, and only outfield players with at least 400 minutes were included. For each player, we calculated the proportion of total distance accumulated below and above 14 km/h.
The result was equally clear:
| Position | Below 14 km/h | At or above 14 km/h |
|---|---|---|
| Defenders | 74.8% | 25.2% |
| Midfielders | 69.5% | 30.5% |
| Forwards | 72.0% | 28.0% |
| All outfield players | ~72% | ~28% |
Therefore, professional outfield players spend an estimated 82% of their movement time below 14 km/h, while approximately 72% of their total distance is covered below the same threshold.
Time and distance do not describe the same thing
The difference between 82% and 72% is simple but important.
Time distribution indicates how frequently players are observed at different speeds. Distance distribution indicates how much ground those speeds generate.
A player moving at 20 km/h covers twice as much distance per second as a player moving at 10 km/h. Higher-speed actions can therefore occupy a relatively small proportion of match time while contributing more strongly to total distance.
This explains why:
- only about 18% of movement time occurs at or above 14 km/h;
- yet this period produces approximately 28% of total distance.
In practical terms:
Players spend most of the match below 14 km/h, but the smaller amount of time spent above that speed generates a disproportionate share of the distance.
This distinction matters because time and distance answer different questions.
- Time distribution: Where do players spend the match?
- Distance distribution: At which speeds are metres accumulated?
Using only one of these metrics produces an incomplete interpretation of match demands.
The real insight is not that players move slowly
The conclusion should not be that elite football is a low-intensity sport.
Nor should the finding be interpreted as evidence that high-speed running is unimportant. Sprints, transitions, recovery runs and explosive movements can have a disproportionate influence on match outcomes.
The more relevant conclusion is this:
If 82% of movement time occurs below 14 km/h, then much of football performance is produced while players are not moving at high speed.
This changes the interpretation of lower- and moderate-speed movement.
Movements below 14 km/h include much of the tactical activity through which teams organise themselves:
- maintaining distances between teammates;
- controlling width and depth;
- adjusting defensive compactness;
- offering passing lines;
- supporting possession;
- closing or opening spaces;
- coordinating pressing structures;
- preparing transitions;
- repositioning after the ball moves.
These actions may not generate large high-speed values, but they shape the conditions under which high-speed actions become effective.
Two teams may record similar sprint distances and still differ substantially in how well they occupy space, support the ball, synchronise movements or maintain compactness. Those differences are often produced within the speed range that dominates match time.
What separates effective movement from simple movement?
The data show where most movement occurs, but they do not tell us whether that movement is effective.
That is the next analytical question.
If most of the game takes place below 14 km/h, then performance analysis should not focus only on how much players move in this range. It should also examine:
- whether they move at the correct moment;
- whether they maintain useful interpersonal distances;
- whether movements improve passing options;
- whether defensive shifts preserve compactness;
- whether support structures remain connected;
- whether players arrive in positions that reduce the need for emergency high-speed actions.
In other words, the key variable may not always be speed itself, but the spatial and tactical value generated at that speed.
This suggests an important distinction:
High-speed actions may decide individual moments, but lower-speed movement often determines the structure from which those moments emerge.
Practical implications
For coaches
Training should not treat walking and jogging periods merely as recovery between important actions. These speeds contain much of the collective organisation of the game.
The question is not only whether players can sprint, but whether the team positions them well enough for those sprints to be useful.
For performance analysts
Reports centred exclusively on high-speed running and sprint distance describe an important but relatively small part of the locomotor profile.
Lower-speed movement should be connected with tactical variables such as spacing, compactness, support, occupation and synchronisation.
For physical coaches
High-speed exposure remains essential for performance and injury-risk management. However, match specificity also depends on reproducing the repeated lower- and moderate-speed movements that precede, connect and follow intense actions.
The physical demand of a sprint cannot always be separated from the tactical sequence that created it.
A different way to read match demands
The traditional interpretation of football movement often gives most attention to the fastest actions because they are visually striking and physically demanding.
The full distribution tells a broader story.
Professional players spend approximately 82% of their movement time below 14 km/h, and about 72% of total distance is accumulated within that same range.
High-speed actions remain essential. But they are embedded within a much larger volume of movement where teams organise, coordinate and prepare what happens next.
The practical message is therefore not that speed matters less.
It is that:
Much of football performance depends on how effectively players move when they are not moving fast.
Methodological note
The estimated proportion of movement time below 14 km/h was derived from the published velocity-distribution curves of professional outfield players. The original study analysed tracking data from 100 LALIGA matches and identified consistent bimodal speed distributions across defenders, midfielders and forwards.
The distance percentages were calculated from LALIGA EA Sports 2025/26 data. Goalkeepers were excluded, and only players with at least 400 minutes were included. The final sample consisted of 166 defenders, 190 midfielders and 61 forwards. For each player, the share of total distance below 14 km/h was calculated before obtaining the positional and overall averages.
The 14 km/h threshold is used as a practical descriptive cut-off based on the available speed bands. It should not be interpreted as a universal physiological boundary.
To explore the frequency-based analysis in greater depth, the full paper examines the complete distribution of player velocities across match periods, tactical phases, playing roles and ball-conduction situations. It provides the methodological basis for identifying the two dominant locomotor peaks around 5 and 10 km/h and for interpreting how movement frequency changes across different match contexts. Read the full paper here: Context-dependent velocity distributions in professional soccer: Players, referees, and ball conduction — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ish.2026.03.005