Do non-contact injuries occur during high-speed running in elite football? Preliminary results from a novel GPS and video-based method.

Objectives: Understanding how injuries occur (inciting circumstances) is useful for developing etiological hypotheses and prevention strategies. The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the feasibility of a method combining video and Global Positioning System data to estimate the speed and acceleration of activities leading to injuries and 2) to use this method to analyse the inciting circumstances leading to non-contact injuries.

Design: Retrospective descriptive study.

Mental health and well-being during COVID-19 lockdown: A survey case report of high-level male and female players of an Italian Serie A football club.

Objectives: To describe high-level footballers' levels and changes in mental health and well-being throughout a 8-week period of lockdown and restricted training during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: One-hundred and one players belonging to four teams (women's and men's, first and U19 teams) of the same Italian Serie A club participated in the study. Data were collected through an online questionnaire, and administered at 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 weeks after the start of the lockdown .

Cardiovascular effects of COVID-19 lockdown in professional football players.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic with the stay-at-home orders and lockdown has dramatically forced athletes to stop team training and competitions, causing deep changes in habits and lifestyle. Aim of this study was to evaluate in a retrospective single center study the cardiovascular (CV) health and fitness of elite football player after COVID-19 lockdown in Italy and to compare such findings with the 2019 off-season period, in order to identify potential differences in the CV features and outcomes.

Methods: All 29 professional football players of the first male team were enrolled before resuming training and competition after COVID-19 lockdown and underwent several exams including physical examination, resting and stress electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography, spirometry and blood tests.

Morning Priming Exercise Strategy to Enhance Afternoon Performance in Young Elite Soccer Players.

Purpose: To compare the effects of different modalities of morning priming exercise on afternoon physical performance with the associated hormonal and psychophysiological responses in young soccer players.

Methods: In a randomized counterbalanced crossover design, 12 young soccer players completed 3 different morning conditions on 3 different days: repeated-sprint running (6 × 40 m), easy exercise (4 × 12 fast half squats, 6 speed ladder drills, and 20-m sprints), and control (no exercise). Blood testosterone and cortisol concentrations were assessed upon arrival (approximately 8:30AM) and approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes later.

On-Sight and Red-Point Climbing: Changes in Performance and Route-Finding Ability in Male Advanced Climbers.

Aim: In lead climbing, the ascent of the route can be defined as on-sight or red-point. On-sight is the more challenging style since it demands greater physiological and psychological commitment. The differences between the two modes in advanced climbers have not been studied much.

Exercise-Based Strategies to Prevent Muscle Injury in Elite Footballers: A Systematic Review and Best Evidence Synthesis.

Background: Exercise-based strategies are used to prevent muscle injuries in football and studies on different competitive-level populations may provide different results.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of exercise-based muscle injury prevention strategies in adult elite football.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscuss (EBSCO).

Validity of Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Assessed via the CR100 Scale to Track Internal Load in Elite Youth Football Players.

Purpose: To assess the convergent validity of the Borg CR100® scale to track internal training load (TL) in youth football players.

Methods: A total of 19 youth football players (age = 15 [1] y, height = 175.9 [12.

Determining the Relationship Between Internal Load Markers and Noncontact Injuries in Young Elite Soccer Players.

Purpose: To examine the association and predictive ability of internal load markers with regard to noncontact injuries in young elite soccer players.

Methods: Twenty-two soccer players (18.6 [0.

Validity of the Online Athlete Management System to Assess Training Load.

Purpose: To validate the quantification of training load (session rating of perceived exertion [s-RPE]) in an Australian Olympic squad (women's water polo), assessed with the use of a modified RPE scale collected via a newly developed online system (athlete management system).

Methods: Sixteen elite women water polo players (age = 26 [3] y, height  = 1.78 [0.

Return to competition after an Achilles tendon rupture using both on and off the field load monitoring as guidance: A case report of a top-level soccer player.

Objectives: To describe the Return to competition after Achilles Tendon rupture (ATR) in an elite soccer player.

Design: Case report.

Setting: Return to sport (RTS) of a professional soccer player who suffered an ATR during a match.

Prediction: The Modern-Day Sport-Science and Sports-Medicine "Quest for the Holy Grail".

In high-performance sport, science and medicine practitioners employ a variety of physical and psychological tests, training and match monitoring, and injury-screening tools for a variety of reasons, mainly to predict performance, identify talented individuals, and flag when an injury will occur. The ability to "predict" outcomes such as performance, talent, or injury is arguably sport science and medicine's modern-day equivalent of the "Quest for the Holy Grail." The purpose of this invited commentary is to highlight the common misinterpretation of studies investigating association to those actually analyzing prediction and to provide practitioners with simple recommendations to quickly distinguish between methods pertaining to association and those of prediction.

Use of CR100 Scale for Session Rating of Perceived Exertion in Soccer and Its Interchangeability With the CR10.

Purpose: To examine the construct validity of the session rating perceived exertion (s-RPE) assessed with the Borg CR100 scale to measure training loads in elite soccer and to examine if the CR100 is interchangeable and can provide more-accurate ratings than the CR10 scale.

Methods: Two studies were conducted. The validity of the CR100 was determined in 19 elite soccer players (age 28 ± 6 y, height 180 ± 7 cm, body mass 77 ± 6 kg) during training sessions through correlations with the Edwards heart-rate method (study 1).

Effect of training-session intensity distribution on session rating of perceived exertion in soccer players.

Purpose: To examine the effect of different exercise-intensity distributions within a training session on the session rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and to examine the timing of measure on the rating.

Methods: Nineteen junior players (age 16±1 y, height 173±5 cm, body mass 64±6 kg) from a Swiss soccer team were involved in the study. Percentage of heart rate maximum (%HR) and RPE (Borg CR100®) were collected in 4 standardized training sessions (conditions).

Are the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test levels 1 and 2 both useful? Reliability, responsiveness and interchangeability in young soccer players.

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare the reliability, internal responsiveness and interchangeability of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YY1), level 2 (YY2) and submaximal YY1 (YY1-sub). Twenty-four young soccer players (age 17 ± 1 years; height 177 ± 7 cm; body mass 68 ± 6 kg) completed each test five times within pre- and in-season; distances covered and heart rates (HRs) were measured. Reliability was expressed as typical error of measurement (TEM) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Differences in climbing-specific strength between boulder and lead rock climbers.

The purpose of this study was to compare maximal muscle strength and rapid force capacity of finger flexors between boulder and lead climbers of national-international level. Ten boulder (mean ± SD, age 27 ± 8 years) and 10 lead climbers (age 27 ± 6 years) volunteered for the study. Ten nonclimbers (age 25 ± 4 years) were also tested.

Effect of bout duration on exercise intensity and technical performance of small-sided games in soccer.

To examine whether the increase in bout duration would affect the exercise intensity and technical actions, we manipulated bout duration during a typical small-sided game drill (SSG) in male soccer players. Nineteen players (mean ± SD: age 24 ± 4 years, body mass 74 ± 4 kg, and height 180 ± 5 cm) completed three bouts of a 3-a-side drill at three different bout durations: 2, 4, and 6 minutes. Exercise intensity was quantified using heart rate (HR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

Repeated-sprint ability in professional and amateur soccer players.

This study investigated the repeated-sprint ability (RSA) physiological responses to a standardized, high-intensity, intermittent running test (HIT), maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2) (max)) and oxygen uptake (VO(2)) kinetics in male soccer players (professional (N = 12) and amateur (N = 11)) of different playing standards. The relationships between each of these factors and RSA performance were determined. Mean RSA time (RSA(mean)) and RSA decrement were related to the physiological responses to HIT (blood lactate concentration ([La(-)]), r = 0.