TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of physical fitness, age, experience, and weekly training load on match performance in elite Australian football
AU - Gastin, Paul B
AU - Fahrner, Brendan
AU - Meyer, Denny
AU - Robinson, Dean
AU - Cook, Jillianne Leigh
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Season long competition schedules in football create unique challenges for coaches in balancing the requirements of recovery, developing and maintaining physical fitness, and adjusting the training load before each match. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of player characteristics (physical fitness, age, and playing experience) and weekly in-season training load on elite match performance across an Australian football season. Twenty-five players (age: 24.1 - 3.0 years; height: 188.3 - 7.3 cm; weight: 90.4 - 8.3 kg) from one elite team participated in this study. Before the season, player s age, experience, height, and weight along with measures of aerobic (6-minute run) and anaerobic (6 - 40 m repeated sprints) physical fitness were recorded. Individual player training load during the season was measured using global positioning system technology for the main training session of the week. Player match performance was calculated weekly from 33 individual playing statistics. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate the relationship between weekly training load and match performance and to explore the influence of player characteristics on this relationship. Playing experience (p <0.01) and aerobic fitness (p <0.05) displayed positive relationships with performance, whereas player age (p <0.01) showed a negative relationship. Most players coped well with weekly variations in training load; however, the relationship was moderated by the results of the preseason repeated sprint test (p <0.05). The adverse effect on playing performance in selected players after a more intense training session suggests that recovery from the session may be delayed in players who exhibit a better anaerobic fitness profile.
AB - Season long competition schedules in football create unique challenges for coaches in balancing the requirements of recovery, developing and maintaining physical fitness, and adjusting the training load before each match. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of player characteristics (physical fitness, age, and playing experience) and weekly in-season training load on elite match performance across an Australian football season. Twenty-five players (age: 24.1 - 3.0 years; height: 188.3 - 7.3 cm; weight: 90.4 - 8.3 kg) from one elite team participated in this study. Before the season, player s age, experience, height, and weight along with measures of aerobic (6-minute run) and anaerobic (6 - 40 m repeated sprints) physical fitness were recorded. Individual player training load during the season was measured using global positioning system technology for the main training session of the week. Player match performance was calculated weekly from 33 individual playing statistics. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate the relationship between weekly training load and match performance and to explore the influence of player characteristics on this relationship. Playing experience (p <0.01) and aerobic fitness (p <0.05) displayed positive relationships with performance, whereas player age (p <0.01) showed a negative relationship. Most players coped well with weekly variations in training load; however, the relationship was moderated by the results of the preseason repeated sprint test (p <0.05). The adverse effect on playing performance in selected players after a more intense training session suggests that recovery from the session may be delayed in players who exhibit a better anaerobic fitness profile.
UR - http://goo.gl/LPia1h
U2 - 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318267925f
DO - 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318267925f
M3 - Article
SN - 1064-8011
VL - 27
SP - 1272
EP - 1279
JO - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
JF - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
IS - 5
ER -