Research Output
The Use of Recovery Strategies in Professional Soccer: A Worldwide Survey
  Purpose: To survey soccer practitioners鈥 recovery strategy: (1) use, (2) perceived effectiveness, and (3) factors influencing their implementation in professional soccer. Methods: A cross-sectional convenience sample of professional soccer club/confederation practitioners completed a web-based survey (April to July 2020). Pearson chi-square and Fisher exact tests with Cramer V (蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩) assessed relationships and their strength, respectively, between the perceived effectiveness and frequency of strategy use. Results: A total of 80 soccer practitioners (13 countries) completed the survey. The 3 most important recovery objectives were 鈥渁lleviating muscle damage/fatigue,鈥 鈥渕inimizing injury risk,鈥 and 鈥減erformance optimization.鈥 The most frequently used strategies were active recovery, structured recovery day, extra rest day, massage, cold-water therapy, and carbohydrate provision (predominantly on match day and match day鈥+鈥1). Relationships were identified between perceived effectiveness and frequency of strategy use for sleep medication (P鈥<鈥.001, 蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩鈥=鈥0.48), carbohydrate provision (P鈥=鈥.007, 蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩鈥=鈥0.60), protein provision (P鈥=鈥.007, 蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩鈥=鈥0.63), an extra rest day (P鈥<鈥.001, 蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩鈥=鈥0.56), and a structured recovery day (P鈥=鈥.049, 蠁鈥夆垝鈥塩鈥=鈥0.50). Conclusions: The study demonstrates that professional soccer practitioners have a range of objectives geared toward enhancing player recovery. A disconnect is apparent between the perceived effectiveness of many recovery strategies and their frequency of use in an applied setting. Novel data indicate that strategies are most frequently employed around match day. Challenges to strategy adoption are mainly competing disciplinary interests and resource limitations. Researchers and practitioners should liaise to ensure that the complexities involved with operating in an applied environment are elucidated and apposite study designs are adopted, in turn, facilitating the use of practically effective and compatible recovery modalities.

  • Type:

    Article

  • Date:

    29 May 2021

  • Publication Status:

    Published

  • Publisher

    Human Kinetics

  • DOI:

  • Cross Ref:

    10.1123/ijspp.2020-0799

  • ISSN:

    1555-0265

  • Funders:

    Edinburgh Napier Funded

Citation

麻豆社区

Field, A., Harper, L. D., Chrismas, B. C., Fowler, P. M., McCall, A., Paul, D. J., 鈥aylor, L. (2021). The Use of Recovery Strategies in Professional Soccer: A Worldwide Survey. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 16(12), 1804-1815. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2020-0799

Authors

Keywords

football; practitioner; coach; applied practice; qualitative research

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