Match-Related Time Course of Perceived Recovery in Youth Football Players

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the reproducibility of the Perceived Recovery Status (PRS) scale in football players and describe the time course of the PRS in response to a football match.

Methods: Twenty trained youth players (mean [SD] age = 16.2 [1.2] y, height = 1.75 [0.07] m, body mass = 64.0 [7.8] kg) took part in the study. PRS was collected -2 h and -30 min before and +15 min, +3 h, and +24 h after an international football match. Players were categorized into 2 groups based on their playing time (≤45 and 90 min).

Results: Reproducibility of the PRS was high (intraclass correlation coefficient = .83, typical error = 0.59, coefficient of variation = 9.9%) between the 2 prematch measures. Overall, PRS was lower at +15 min (4.0 [1.5]; P < .01, effect size = 2.2) and +3 h (4.7 [1.6]; P < .01, effect size = 1.5) compared with -30 min (7.1 [1.3]); +15 min was lower than +24 h (6.1 [1.3]; P < .01, effect size = 1.5). No differences between groups for PRS scores at any of the time points were found.

Conclusions: The PRS is a reproducible tool for monitoring perceptions of recovery to football activity and is sensitive to time-course changes relating to a match. The scale is an easy and efficient tool that can be used to monitor an aspect of recovery.

Keywords: fatigue; fitness; monitoring.