HAPPINESS VERSUS WELLNESS IN ELITE SPORT
In team sports, coaches make a lot of decisions and some of them have an immediate impact on the efficiency of the game.
7 August, 2019
PRE-SEASON DESIGN: THE INFLUENCE OF INITIAL RESULTS ON A TEAM’S FINAL RANKING
Sports Performance
Team Sports
One of the first decisions a club’s coaching staff must take is the design of pre-season training. Decisions need to be made in regard to what exercises should be incorporated, the number of sessions, the opponents and many other factors. In short, the coaching staff must develop and adjust the training/competition load which ensures that the team starts the season in an ideal state of physical fitness. However, are we interested in achieving the best possible physical fitness for the first match of the season? Or should we opt for a less intense pre-season load design, considering that we will be competing for a total of nine months? Without a doubt, this is a crucial decision to take. Debate among coaches is intense. It is argued that the results achieved in the first matches of the season can have a positive impact on a team’s final ranking in the championship. On the other hand, it is said that achieving optimal physical fitness too soon can cause problems in the second round of competition.
There are a number of studies that have focused on football1,2 and handball3 and which can provide further insights into this debate. These studies analysed how the results obtained from the first five matches in a domestic league compared with a team’s final position and examined whether the clubs’ budget influenced the relationship. The results showed that the impact of the first few rounds of competition is not the same for all teams. For teams with the smallest budgets, their position in Round 5 is statistically significant (p<0.01) in relation to their final ranking, with the expected finding that the better the position of a team in Round 5, the better its final classification in the competition. The smaller the club’s budget, the stronger this effect is. For teams with larger budgets, the position held in Round 5 had no impact on their final ranking. The results are similar for the Italian A Series, the Spanish League, the English Premier League, the French League and the German Bundesliga.
For teams with little economic resources, a run of positive results at the beginning of a season seems to provide players with a sense of security and to confirm they are on the right track (a team is a state of mind, some trainers say). For teams with more financial resources, perhaps the presence of the best players in their ranks will allow a series of bad results to be modified throughout the season.
The incredible talent of these athletes means that their effectiveness depends more on their perception of control over the situation and their personal attribution of talent, rather than on immediate or more recent achievements.
The practical implications of these findings for training are:
For teams with small budgets, as well as using the pre-season for testing (alternating players in preparatory matches and friendly fixtures, experimenting with tactical plans and match systems, etc.) and “measuring their strength against other teams”.The coaching staff must also focus on:
- Trying to achieve tactical-technical fitness in the fastest way possible, so that the team starts the season with the ability to perform at their highest level.
- Selecting appropriate opponents in preparatory matches in order to reinforce perceived self-efficacy, since there is a greater probability of winning against weaker teams (teams from other categories or divisions, teams who have typically ranked lower, etc.). In other words, the pre-season should be designed with a focus on winning from the start.
- Proposing intervention strategies that improve levels of collective self-efficacy.
For teams with large budgets, the design of pre-season training loads does not need to focus solely on the rapid development of players in order to reach the first match with the highest level of physical fitness. These teams will be able to win their first few matches even if the players don’t have the best possible individual physical fitness. It is also important to consider the end of the season. Furthermore, many of these players will have had very little rest during their holidays due to international commitments with their respective national teams.
In any case, it is important to remember that every situation is unique and will always require its own specific decisions.
Sing up for the Certificate in Training for Team Sports
Carlos Lago Peñas
References
[1] Lago, C & Casáis, L (2010). La influencia de los resultados iniciales en la clasificación final de los equipos en el fútbol de alto nivel. Revista de Psicología del Deporte. 19(2): 175-185.
[1] Lago-Peñas, C & Sampaio, J. (2015). Just how important is a good season start? Overall team performance and financial budget of elite soccer clubs. Journal of Sports Sciences. 33(12): 1214-1218.
[1] Lago-Peñas, C.; Fernández-Villarino, M.; González-García, I.; Sánchez-Fernández, P & Sampaio, J. (2016). The impact of a good season start on team performance in elite handball. Journal of Human Kinetics. 50(1): 195-202.
RELATED NOTES
DO FOOTBALL PLAYER’S MENTAL ABILITIES INFLUENCE THE RISK OF INJURY?
Mental abilities, although not yet fully appreciated, are already considered a relevant part of performance. But their importance could go beyond that: Do they also influence the injury risk, including recurrence, once the player returns to play?
INJURY TYPE IN HANDBALL MAY VARY BY POSITION, CATEGORY AND MATURATION OF PLAYERS
Although several studies have tried to evaluate the characteristics of the risk of injury in handball players, they have been unable to reach sufficiently reliable conclusions. A new study of all the FC Barcelona handball categories has attempted to shed more light on the subject.
HOW PHYSICAL DEMANDS ON FOOTBALL PLAYERS VARY BY THEIR POSITION
Although there are several studies on this topic, many of them have analyzed these demands by looking at just a few variables or using very broad timeframes. A new study completed by physical trainers from F.C. Barcelona has analyzed several of these details more closely.
THE GREAT UNKNOWN OF MUSCLE INJURIES: CONNECTIVE TISSUE IN THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX
An article published in The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine —in which members of the club’s medical services participated— now suggests to consider the detailed structure of the area affected, and treating the extracellular matrix as an essential player in the prognosis of the injury.
WHAT IS LOAD MANAGEMENT REALLY ABOUT?
In this article, Tim Gabbett and his team provide a user-friendly guide for practitioners when describing the general purpose of load management to coaches.
TWO WEEKS ARE ENOUGH TO INCREASE MUSCLE VOLUME AND STRENGTH
For the first time, it has been demonstrated that it does not take months of training to significantly improve both muscle volume and strength; instead, two weeks of an appropriate exercise are enough.
Degrees of freedom or degrees of slavery?
The understanding of the modifying variables of the game, based on the degrees of freedom.
ECCENTRIC EXERCISES: STUDYING “VACCINES” FOR MUSCLES
Training using eccentric exercises is important to prevent possible damage. However, intensive training can also cause muscle damage, so it is critical to be vigilant in order to keep injury risk to an absolute minimum.
STABILITY OR INSTABILITY, IS THAT THE QUESTION?
The importance of building a game model in football.
THE LEVEL OF RESISTANCE AS A MODERATOR OF THE TRAINING LOAD
Cardiovascular endurance manifests as a moderator of the load result to which the athlete is exposed.
Are the players well positioned in relation to the ball?
Through the use of computer vision we can identify some shortcomings in the body orientation of players in different game situations.
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE?
- SUBSCRIBE
- CONTACT
- APPLY
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH OUR NEWS
Do you have any questions about Barça Universitas?
- Startup
- Research Center
- Corporate