Player Status, Manage Training Load & Wellness

The importance of tracking players’ wellness and readiness is something that could provide the coach with useful information, that ideally can help them in the training procedure and the overall performance of the team. Today, after so many years in the football business, I found the time to research, study and learn more about wellness tracking and athlete management. I can confidently say that I am beyond excited and grateful to be working alongside high level scientists and professionals of the field here at the Aspire Academy. My adventure in Doha proves to be the best thing that could happen to me. :) 

Keep your database simple and clear

Let’s start with the basics. It’s crucially important to keep a daily database of your players regarding changes in their wellness, performance, or even testing. This way you can take useful information using simple excel tricks like pivot tables or simple formulas. Bear in mind that it is also important to have your norms, to know what is good for your players, what is average or what is not good. You can also use a conditional color-coded format, so you can have better view of your results. Therefore, have your alarms, red flags – as we use to say – and treat your players individually. 

Wellness Monitoring

Perceived ratings of wellness have shown particular reliable and valid results as simple, non-invasive assessments of fatigue status in elite soccer players (Thorpe et al, 2016). Comparing with different other means of tracking players’ fatigue (HRV, TR from GPS data..), perceived ratings of wellness were accurate and easier to perform in the daily routine. Asking the players their stress, sleep, fatigue, soreness and mood status could give us useful information for their current status, in order to make our training better for them. Especially, in a period of time we can see how the player recovers after a match (comparing data MD+1, MD+2 and so on). The only condition you have to take good results is to educate your players about the way they have to think each number giving you. Make your own comparisons with your team, but always as we said keep your data simple and clear (photos below).

Training Load

No matter if you have GPS or Heart Rate monitoring, you can always find a way to keep data for your athletes. If you are lucky (as I really am here at Aspire) to have GPS monitoring, that would be the ideal scenario. Total Distance, High Intensity Running, Accelerations, Decelerations and so on, are examples of data you can use daily to identify your players’ readiness.

Another key point here is to make your data relative to your player’s position or profile. Again, it is crucial to have tangiblenumbers to compare, so set an exercise that will be your base and try to compare your players’ performance every week or a specific period of time. Personally, I have used sub maximal tests like the yo-yo test and 6vs3 possession game. Moreover, testing methods like Heart Rate Variability (HRV), force plate jumps and strength (handheld dynamometer) prior to match or match day +2, could also give useful information about players’ readiness. 

On the other hand, if you don’t have the necessary equipment, you can go the easy route with RPE. As noted in one of our past posts, using simple equations and one excel sheet you can have daily monitoring about your players’ training load and wellness. Don’t forget, always keep your database simple and functional! 

Recovery and Training Load

A big number of injuries that occurred in football, happened because of imbalances between recovery and training load. As you are planning your training programs, also plan your recovery period in the week, or in a mesocycle/macrocycle as well. Listen to your players, take feedback and be ready to adjust the load you plan for them. Don’t stick in long term programs that don’t take in account your athletes’ readiness after a specific stimulus you gave them.

In a recent study, Michael Bring and his colleagues highlighted the difference between young athletes and coaches regarding training dose. Results indicate that young elite soccer players perceive training as harder than what was intended by the coach. These differences could lead to maladaptation to training.

Monitoring of the planned and perceived training load of coaches and players may optimize performance and prevent players from overtraining.

Practical Applications

1. Database for your players
2. Relative Data for each player
3. Wellness monitoring
4. Training load
5. Players’ readiness through testing
6. Plan the Recovery

For more info or tips don’t hesitate to contact me.

Wishing everyone all the best for the new season. Stay strong!!!