Biology of Sport

Abstract

1/2024 vol. 41
Original paper

Impaired pre-competition wellbeing measures can negatively impact running performance in developmental youth female soccer players

  1. University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE), Canberra, Australia
  2. School of Science, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Canberra, Australia
  3. Performance Health Management, Canberra, Australia
  4. School of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
  5. School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
  6. Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Australia
Biol Sport. 2024;41(1):145–152
Online publish date: 2023/07/21
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Confronting perimenopausal women’s knowledge of coronary heart disease with their health behaviours. Controversial role of hormone replacement therapy in the protection of coronary heart disease
This study aimed to determine the association between pre-competition perceived player wellbeing measures and subsequent relative and peak running performance of developmental youth female soccer players (n = 15, age: 16±1 years). Total distance (TD), high-speed (> 3.5 m/s) (HSRD) and very high-speed (> 5.3 m/s) running (VHSRD) were expressed using 1-, 2- and 5-minute epochs and relative (per minute) calculations. Fatigue, sleep quality, upper and lower-body muscle soreness, stress, and mood wellbeing measures were collected via a self-reported questionnaire (1–5 Likert scale). Menstrual cycle phase was collected via a calendar-based countback method. Results demonstrated that reductions in stress was associated with decreased relative and peak TD in all epochs (p = 0.008–0.040), relative and peak HSRD (p = 0.006–0.039) in 2- and 5-minute epochs as well as VHSRD in 2-minute epochs (p = 0.026). For example, a one-point reduction of ‘normal’ to ‘relaxed’ is associated with a decrease of 7 m/min in peak TD for 1-minute epochs. One-point increase in fatigue (e.g., ‘normal’ to ‘more tired than normal’) displayed a decrease of 7 m/min peak TD for 2-minute (p = 0.048) and 9 m/min for 5-minute (p = 0.007) rolling epochs. Likewise, one-point increase in lower-body muscle-soreness (e.g., ‘normal’ to ‘increase in soreness/tightness’) was associated with a reduction of 6 m/min peak VHSRD for 1-minute epochs (p = 0.034). Results suggest that perceived player wellbeing can influence running performance. However, the magnitude of the change in player wellbeing should be considered in a practical sense.
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