Investigating the relationships between load and recovery in women’s field hockey – Female Athletes in Motion (FAiM) study

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relationships between internal and external load metrics with subjective wellness-recovery indices in female field hockey players. Specifically, to evaluate 1) morning wellness-recovery with the current day loads (same-day analysis), and 2) the current day loads with wellness-recovery the following morning (next-day analysis). Objective (total distance and training impulse) and subjective (session RPE) load metrics as well as subjective indices of recovery and wellness were monitored daily with a women’s U21 field hockey team (n = 16) during a 16-day European tour (8 matches and 7 training sessions). Linear-mixed models were used to quantify the relationship between load and wellness-recovery metrics. A unit rise in wellness was associated with a 37.8 m increase in total distance for the sessions that day (p = .038); otherwise there were no correlations observed between load and wellness-recovery metrics for same-day and next-day analysis. There was substantial intra-individual variation among players for these relationships. Over the course of a typical field hockey event player responses were not evident at a group-level. Therefore, it is important for coaches and support staff to monitor individual changes in the loads experienced along with wellness-recovery patterns. Subsequent adjustments could have implications regarding performance, fatigue management, and athlete well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Wellness
• internal demands
• external demands
• GPS
• heart rate

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Field Hockey Canada and the coaching staff for their support and to the players for their participation. Thanks also to Dr. Ira Jacobs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and by the Research Program in Applied Sports Science from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (Ontario, Canada).