Contemporary practices of physical trainers in professional soccer: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Physical trainers (PTs) are integral for managing load, reducing injury and optimizing performance in professional soccer. However, little is known about how this practitioners operate in the applied setting and how some of the nuances experienced influence practice. Methods: This study explored the contemporary practices of PTs in professional soccer. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eight PTs from different professional teams in European and South American leagues. Interview questions were designed to extract information on the evaluation of physical abilities, monitoring and control of training and injury prevention. Subsequently, the interviews were video-recorded, transcribed, translated and analyzed using a content analysis approach. Results: The results suggest that the evaluation of physical capacities is carried out by PTs at the beginning of the preseason. It also appears that it is attempted that this process of regular testing is applied during the competitive period, with most participants conducting partial physiological and physical evaluations at different stages throughout the competitive season. In relation to the monitoring and control of training, subjective feedback scales are used to estimate the internal load, and the use of GPS devices is common to quantify external loads. Injury prevention programmes were implemented by all participants and were generally in a multi-component format focused on preventing or optimizing physical capabilities. Discussion: These insights can be used as a scientific reference point to inform applied practice in professional soccer, especially for practitioners that are inexperienced and aspiring to enhance how they operate in the field. Future investigations should explore the practices of PTs in detail and across a wider network in order to gain deeper and comprehensive insights into the applied soccer environment.

Analysis of Recovery Methods' Efficacy Applied up to 72 Hours Postmatch in Professional Football: A Systematic Review With Graded Recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Sleep, nutrition, active recovery, cold-water immersion, and massage were recently reported as the most used postmatch recovery methods in professional football. However, the recommendations concerning the effect of these methods remain unclear. PURPOSE: To systematically review the literature regarding the effectiveness of the most common recovery methods applied to male and female football players (or other team sports) 72 hours postmatches and to provide graded recommendations for their use. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was performed, and the level of evidence of randomized and nonrandomized studies was classified as 1 or 2, respectively, with additional ++, +, and - classification according to the quality of the study and risk of bias. Graded recommendations were provided regarding the effectiveness of recovery methods for physical, physiological, and perceptive variables. RESULTS: From the 3472 articles identified, 39 met the inclusion criteria for analysis. The studies' levels of evidence varied among methods (sleep: 2+ to 1++; nutrition: 2- to 1+; cold-water immersion: 2- to 1++; active recovery: 2- to 1+; and massage: 1- to 1+). Different graded recommendations were attributed, and none of them favored the effective use of recovery methods for physiological and physical parameters, whereas massage and cold-water immersion were recommended as beneficial for perceptive variables. CONCLUSIONS: Cold-water immersion and massage can be recommended to recover up to 72 hours postmatch at a perceptive level. However, there is a current need for high-quality research that identifies effective recovery strategies that enhance recovery at the physical and physiological levels.

Postmatch Recovery Practices Carried Out in Professional Football: A Survey of 56 Portuguese Professional Football Teams.

BACKGROUND: In football (ie, soccer), the effectiveness of recovery practices is critical to maintain high levels of performance, prevent residual fatigue, and reduce injury risk. However, the recovery methods that professional football teams put in place up to 72 hours postmatch are widely unknown. PURPOSE: This study aimed to characterize the postmatch recovery practices in Portuguese football teams in different postmatch periods and match locations. METHODS: Portuguese football teams (total, N = 56; male: first league [n = 17], second league [n = 16], under-23 league [n = 12]; female: first league, n = 11) participated in the study. The practitioners in charge of recovery strategies in each team filled out the online questionnaire in the middle of the 2019-20 season. The questions focused on the type of recovery methods to be used at different times after home and away matches. RESULTS: After home matches, stretching, electrostimulation, active recovery, and massage were used with higher frequency (P < .017) in later postmatch periods (ie, 12-24, and 24-72 h) compared with immediately postmatch. After away matches, several differences were found (P < .017) for the stretching, electrostimulation, active recovery, cold-water immersion, massage, nutrition, and sleep between postmatch periods. Regarding match location, stretching (r = .19), active recovery (r = .39), cold-water immersion (r = .46), and massage (r = .29) showed a higher frequency of use immediately after home matches. Conversely, the use of compression garments (r = .27) was higher immediately after away matches. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that in professional football, recovery methods are not applied uniformly along postmatch periods and differ depending on the match location.

Post-match Recovery Practices in Professional Football: Design, Validity, and Reliability of a New Questionnaire.

Introduction: Although several approaches have been proposed to mitigate post-match fatigue, few studies have been conducted in team sports to understand the types of recovery methods and the underlying reasons for the choices of medical and technical staff. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable online questionnaire to assess the recovery practices implemented by football clubs within 72 h post-match. Methods: Two research members developed the original questionnaire proposal, and two experts in sports science and sports medicine confirmed the content and face validities. Then, 20 football coaches (age: 39.4 ± 6.8 years) with a minimum of 5 years of experience in professional football (9.1 ± 4.9 years) and with an academic background participated in determining the ecological validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The acceptability and relevance of the questionnaire were determined using descriptive statistics. Results: After confirming the content and face validities, one questionnaire section with two questions was excluded due to lack of relevance, seven open-ended questions were removed due to the adherence of small participants (i.e., 45.4%), and one section was divided into three to facilitate clearness in reading. The remaining sections were considered acceptable and relevant (>94.1%). About 91.8% of nominal and ordinal items derived from the questionnaire questions showed good to very good reliability outcomes (average k classification: 0.73 ± 0.13; min-max: 0.22-1.00, p < 0.05; average wk classification: 0.82 ± 0.15; min-max: 0.22-1.00, p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study provided a novel, valid, reliable, and easy-to-use tool to examine the post-match recovery practices in professional football contexts.

Intra-Season Variations in Workload Parameters in Europe's Elite Young Soccer Players: A Comparative Pilot Study between Starters and Non-Starters.

BACKGROUND: The main purpose of the current study was to compare the within-season variations of workload, training duration, acute/chronic workload ratio (ACWR), training monotony ™, and training strain (TS) through session rating perceived exertion (s-RPE) between starters and non-starters. METHODS: Seventeen under-17 European male soccer players (age, 16.2 ± 0.3 y, height, 1.8 ± 0.1 m; body mass, 66.5 ± 4.0 kg) divided in two groups: nine starters and eight non-starters, were evaluated over 50 weeks throughout the season. RESULTS: In general, there were load variations for all players during the full-season. RPE tended to decrease during in-season and RPE, training duration and s-RPE did not present significant differences between starters and non-starters. TM and TS presented lower values for starters in mesocycle (M) 4 and M11 compared to non-starters. TS presented lower values for starters in M4 and M11 compared to non-starters, while in M10 a higher value was found for starters when compared to non-starters. ACWR showed differences between starters and non-starters in two of the mesocycles. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that some mesocycles provided higher load for non-starters. This information can alert coaches that non-starter players are likely to try too hard in training to demonstrate their abilities, leading to non-functional overreaching, overtraining syndrome, and then poor performance.

Analyzing the effects of combined small-sided games and strength and power training on the fitness status of under-19 elite football players.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to characterize a common microcycle considering both internal and external training loads; and 2) to identify the effects of small-sided games (SSGs) and of power and strength training on the fitness status of football players. METHODS: Fifteen male football players (age: 18.55±0.39 years) participated in this study. Ninety-two consecutive training sessions were monitored and analyzed over a period of nineteen weeks. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE ) was used as an internal load marker, and the distances covered at different speed thresholds and accelerations/decelerations were used as external load markers to characterize the common microcycle. Participants' body composition, vertical jumping ability, maximal strength, speed, and agility were assessed twice before and after the training monitoring process. RESULTS: The results revealed that match day -5 (MD-5) and MD-1 were associated with the lowest RPE scores (4.2 and 3.8 A.U., respectively). MD-4 and MD-3 were associated with the highest RPE values (9.2 and 8.8 A.U., respectively). Meaningful changes in RPE were found between training days. External load monitoring revealed that MD-4 had the highest values of accelerations and decelerations >2 m/s2/min (4.22 and 3.17, respectively) and MD-3 had the highest values of distance covered at high intensity (6.11 m/s2/min). Meaningful moderate improvements in jumping performance (d=0.90) and maximal strength parameters (d=0.83) were also found between assessments. CONCLUSIONS: It was identified that the concurrent approach had meaningful impacts on the fitness development of players and should be considered by coaches for future training interventions.