Fatigue - insights from individual and team sports

Many different aspects of fatigue in sport have been researched, discussed and written about. However, the sport science practitioner can often find it difficult to access relevant and meaningful scientific evidence when it comes to managing training loads and fatigue effectively. Should training programs proceed as planned, be modified or cease altogether? These decisions are difficult and often left to the coach who may have many years of experience associated with managing fatigue in a productive way. This chapter addresses fatigue from a practical perspective and published research in this complex area. Fatigue in individual and team sports can present different challenges that have encouraged different approaches. There are certainly as many questions as answers when it comes to optimally managing a "fatigued" athlete. Continual research exploring the relationship between training patterns and performance ability is certainly warranted. The exciting area of recovery and fatigue dissipation is yielding many interesting and relevant findings. Fatigue induced by training-is most likely a pre-requisite for success in elite sport. However, the merits of excessive fatigue remain to be clarified. Practitioners working daily with elite athletes have the potential to guide important research for effective diagnosis and management of fatigue.