Female Soccer Players Experience Faster Recovery Following Practices And Games Later In The Competitive Season

Recovery is crucial to performance in collegiate soccer players. Recovery duration may be impacted as the season progresses. PURPOSE: To assess the adaptability of female soccer players to recover from practices and games. METHODS: We monitored 30 female Division-1 soccer players with Polar Team Pro devices for 35 consecutive days; the tracking period included 20 practices and 7 competitions. Data exported were duration of activity, distance covered, mean and maximum speed, mean and maximum heart rate (HR), and Polar calculations of training load, cardio load, and duration of recovery. All performances (858 observations) were characterized with descriptive statistics. Linear regression on the 5th to 95th percentile and the 10th to 90th percentile were performed to estimate the effects of practice and game numbers on recovery duration, holding exercise intensity constant. RESULTS: In games, athletes had a training load score of 132.52 ± 84.9, cardio load score of 151.6 ± 81.6, mean HR of 130.5 ± 21.9 bpm, and maximum HR of 188.3 ± 26.8 bpm. The duration of each game was 121.1 ± 26.1 min; the athletes covered 4,702.6 ± 2,937.7 m, had an average speed of 2.6 ± 1.6 km/h, and maximum speed of 24.9 ± 6.6 km/h. In practices, athletes had a training load score of 55.3 ± 39.0, cardio load score of 58.2 ± 39.4, mean HR of 132.2 ± 24.8 bpm, and maximum HR of 174.8 ± 33.4 bpm. The duration of each practice was 44.3 ± 23.8 min; the athletes covered 2,002.8 ± 1,277.3 m, had an average speed of 2.8 ± 1.1 km/h, and maximum speed of 19.7 ± 7.1 km/h. Holding training load constant, each additional game predicted a 2.8-hour decrease in recovery duration for the 5th to 95th percentile (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = -5.32 to -0.23; R2 = 0.559) and a 2.6-hour decrease in duration for the 10th to 90th percentile (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = -4.73 to -0.46; R2 = 0.522). Regarding practice, each additional session predicted a 0.5-hour decrease in recovery duration for the 5th to 95th percentile (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = -0.60 to -0.48; R2 = 0.399) and a 0.4-hour decrease in recovery duration for the 10th to 90th percentile (p < 0.001; 95% CI of β = -0.38; 95% CI of β = -0.43 to -0.33; R2 = 0.338). CONCLUSION: Players exhibited faster recovery durations with each successive practice session and competition. Coaching personnel may consider additional rest earlier in the competitive season.