Differences between 48 and 72-hour intervals on match load and subsequent recovery: a report from the Brazilian under-20 national football team

Purpose

To compare the external and internal load and subsequent recovery of football players after international tournament matches separated by 48 h vs. 72 h.

Methods

A total of 14 male football players from the Brazilian National Team, competing in the 2019 South American Under-20 Championship, participated in the study. Match load was quantified using GPS variables and perceived exertion ratings (1). Additionally, before and 13-15 h after each match, players answered questions about the number of hours and quality of sleep, recovery status, and muscle soreness (0-10) and provided a blood sample for creatine kinase and reactive C-protein analysis. Values of all variables were compared between matches played with 48-h intervals (matches 1-4) and 72-h intervals (matches 5-8).

Results

No significant differences in performance or perceptual parameters were observed between matches (p = 0.136-0.953). However, CK was higher in matches 1-4 compared to matches 5 and 6; and ΔPCR was higher in matches 2 and 3 compared to matches 5 and 6, and in match 4 compared to matches 5 and 8.

Conclusions

After matches with a 48-h rest interval, players showed increased markers of inflammation and muscle damage compared to matches with a 72-h rest interval.

Aerobic Capacity and Restitution Efficiency Level in Relation to the Training Experience and Weekly Training Volume of Male and Female Judo National Team Members in the Cadet Age Group (U18) during the Preparatory Period

This study aims to analyze the relationship between the level of aerobic capacity and post-exercise restitution during the preparation period, with training experience and weekly training volume. All (12) athletes (six women; six men) participating in the training camp of the Polish national judo team in the cadet age group were tested. The Maximal Multistage 20-m Shuttle Run Test was used to investigate the level of aerobic capacity, and the Klonowicz coefficient of restitution (COR) 3 min after exercise (COR 3') and 5 min after exercise (COR 5') was used to determine the level of post-exercise restitution efficiency. The results showed that higher training experience significantly affected the deterioration of COR 3' in female athletes and improved the results in the capacity test of male athletes. Female and male athletes with a higher weekly training volume had a higher HR at the end of the performance test. Considering the demonstrated correlations, special attention should be paid to matching the loads in training programs to the age of the athletes, introducing into training programs the teaching of body management during fatigue. Failing to adjust this may make participation impossible in competitions at the international level for older age groups.

Injuries in elite level male beach soccer players: a prospective three year study

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and characteristics of match and training injuries in elite-level national male beach soccer players.

METHOD

The incidence, mechanism, location, type, severity, and burden of injuries of the Turkish national beach soccer team were recorded between 2017 and 2019.

RESULTS

A total of 136 injuries occurred during the study period. Total injury incidence was 238.9 injuries/1,000 match hours (MHs) and 37.7 injuries/1,000 training hours (THs) (p < 0.001). Twenty-seven injuries led to time-loss, and the incidences for match and training injuries were 36.7 and 7.9 per 1,000 hours, respectively. Of medical attention injuries (MAI) caused by trauma, 54.6% (n = 53) were due to another player and, 60.9% (n = 14) of time-loss injuries (TLI) caused by trauma were due to non-contact trauma (p < 0.001). While 82% (n = 91) of training injuries occurred in lower extremities, 29% (n = 9) of match injuries occurred in the head/neck region (p < 0.001). Head injury incidence was 45.9 per 1,000 match hours. Of MAI, 50% (n = 57) were contusion, and 32.1% (n = 9) of TLI were strain (p < 0.001). Also, the most common injury subtype was foot/toe contusion during match and training (19.4%; n = 6, 27.9%; n = 31, respectively). The majority of injuries 91.9% (n = 125) had slight severity.

CONCLUSION

Head trauma, tendon injury, and foot/toe contusion are important for clinical practice in beach soccer. Protective measures (rule regulation, use of protective equipment, etc.) should be considered to prevent these injuries.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Impact of Social Networks on the Choice to Play for a National Team in Football

In the course of their careers, elite athletes are faced with crucial decisions. This applies particularly to adolescent athletes who additionally have to cope with a variety of age-related developmental tasks. For young top football players with a migrant background, this can be even more challenging as they often attract the interest of national associations. From a network-theoretical perspective, it can be considered likely that the decision to join a top national association is not taken independently of the players' networks. This article addresses the role of network actors within the players' decision-making process. Our analysis is guided by constructivist network theory and based on a qualitative research approach that used guided expert interviews as its core research tool. Ten interviews with German-born youth internationals with a migrant background were conducted. The present analysis reveals several network actors such as family, coaches and players' agents involved in the 'national team question'. Evidently, most relevant networks of players with a migrant background are sports-related. These networks turned out to be highly functionalized and leave only limited room for manoeuvring. At the same time, the interviews reveal 'structural holes' within the players' networks and indicate a considerable need for the optimization of talent counselling.

Balancing performance-based expectations with a holistic perspective on coaching: a qualitative study of Swedish women's national football team coaches' practice experiences

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how an exclusive sample of women’s national football team coaches described how they implement careful coaching while facing social and organizational pressure to win medals. Method: To consider coaches’ negotiations, we drew on Noddings’ concept of caring. Using an interpretive research paradigm, we conducted in-depth interviews with five Swedish women’s national football team coaches. An abductive approach was used to simultaneously process the theoretical framework of “ethics of care” and the empirical data. Results: The coaches unanimously adopted a holistic perspective to coaching. The coaching strategies they described included promoting players’ development, well-being, and sustainable elite performance; listening to the players’ voices and engaging in dialogue; and creating a positive environment and promoting fair play. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that the women coaches, despite performance pressure, adopt caring coaching in the form of Noddings’ pedagogical modelling, dialogue, and confirmation strategies, and provide an example of how coaches can adopt caring, holistic, and athlete-centred coaching while working at the highest level of competitive sport and achieving competitive success.

Selection, de-selection and progression in German football talent promotion

This study explored to which extent the development of German professional football players is based on early talent identification (TID) and long-term nurture in talent promotion (TP) programmes or on their emergence in the course of repeated procedures of player selection and de-selection in these programmes through childhood and youth. The annual turnover of squad members in national junior teams (2001-2013) and youth elite academies was calculated; national U-team members were followed up with regard to nominations through subsequent seasons and to their success level eventually achieved at senior age; and all current Bundesliga players were analysed retrospectively regarding their earlier involvement in TID/TP programmes. Analyses revealed that the mean annual turnover of squad members was 24.5% (youth academies) and 41.0% (national U-teams), respectively. At any age, the probability of persisting in the programme three years later was <50%. Among current Bundesliga players, the age of recruitment into the TID/TP programme was widely evenly distributed across childhood and youth, respectively. Accordingly, the number of (future) Bundesliga players who were involved in TID/TP was built up continuously through all age categories. The observations suggest that the collective of professional players emerged from repeated procedures of selection and de-selection through childhood and youth rather than from early selection and long-term continuous nurture in TID/TP programmes. The findings are discussed with regard to the uncertainty of TID and of interventions applied to the selected players, and they are related to the individualistic and collectivistic approach in TP.

A four-year chronology with national team boxing in Canada

Applied sport psychologists tend to begin their consulting relationships with national teams having formalized skills, and often, limited contextual and sport- specific understanding. The present report overviews the first four years of a long-term consulting relationship one practitioner developed with the Canadian National Boxing Team. From the vantage of an applied sport psychology consultant, I overview how a limited consulting role expanded into increased responsibilities and opportunities. Suggestions are provided for the aspiring sport psychology consultant interested in working with athletes and coaches within the combative sport of elite amateur boxing. Key pointsA case study with elite amateur boxers.A strategy to develop rapport.Four years of major games experiences on site.