european college of sport science

Friday, June 26th, 2009
FASTER PLAYERS SLOWER TO RECOVER AFTER TRAINING AND COMPETITION, WITH POSSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON
FOOTBALL PERFORMANCE
GASTIN, P., FAHRNER, B., MEYER, D., ROBINSON, D., COOK, J.
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA), SWINBURNE UT (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA), GEELONG FC (GEELONG, AUSTRALIA)
Introduction: Speed and speed endurance are positively related to success in the football codes and are often included in talent identification
and selection criteria of players (Reilly and Gilbourne 2003; Pyne, Gardner et al., 2005). These desirable characteristics, however,
may predispose the player to greater post training and competition muscle damage (Paddon-Jones, Keech et al. 2005), potentially affecting
the time course of recovery and performance in the next game. To explore this hypothesis, performance data routinely collected in a
professional Australian Rules football club were analysed to assess the influence of selected player characteristics on recovery and
playing performance.
Methods: Data were collected over a full competition season from a squad of 27 professional Australian Rules football players. Player
characteristics assessed during the pre-season, including maximal speed over 40 m and time to complete six 40 m sprints (speed endurance),
were used as moderating variables in hierarchical linear modelling of the data. The first analysis considered trends over the
week in player self-ratings on six physical wellness items (general muscle, quadriceps and hamstring strain, fatigue, pain/stiffness,
power). The second analysis explored the relationship between training load and weekly performance from playing statistics.
Results: A total of 2,583 self-rating questionnaires were analysed from completions on 183 days throughout the season. Ratings for all
physical wellness items were worse in the days immediately post competition, improving steadily over the week to a game day low. Four
of the six physical items (muscle, hamstring and quadriceps strain, power; p