TY - JOUR
T1 - Training Practices of Football Players During the Early COVID-19 Lockdown Worldwide
AU - Washif, Jad Adrian
AU - Mujika, Iñigo
AU - DeLang, Matthew D
AU - Brito, João
AU - Dellal, Alexandre
AU - Haugen, Thomas
AU - Hassanmirzaei, Bahar
AU - Wong, Del P
AU - Farooq, Abdulaziz
AU - Dönmez, Gürhan
AU - Kim, Kwang Joon
AU - Duque, Juan David Peña
AU - MacMillan, Lewis
AU - Matsunaga, Ryo
AU - Rabbani, Alireza
AU - Romdhani, Mohamed
AU - Tabben, Montassar
AU - Zerguini, Yacine
AU - Zmijewski, Piotr
AU - Pyne, David B
AU - Chamari, Karim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Human Kinetics, Inc.
PY - 2023/1/1
Y1 - 2023/1/1
N2 - UNLABELLED: The COVID-19 lockdown challenged the training options of athletes worldwide, including players from the most popular sport globally, football/soccer.PURPOSE: The authors explored the training practices of football players worldwide during the COVID-19 lockdown.METHODS: Football players (N = 2482, 30% professional, 22% semipro, and 48% amateur) completed an online survey (May-July 2020) on their training practices before versus during lockdown (March-June 2020). Questions were related to training frequency and session duration, as well as training knowledge and attitudes.RESULTS: Before lockdown, more professional (87%) than semipro (67%) and amateur (65%) players trained ≥5 sessions/wk, but this proportion decreased during the lockdown to 55%, 35%, and 42%, respectively. Players (80%-87%) trained ≥60 minutes before lockdown, but this proportion decreased to 45% in professionals, 43% in amateurs, and 36% in semipros during lockdown. At home, more than two-thirds of players had training space (73%) and equipment (66%) for cardiorespiratory training, while availability of equipment for technical and strength training was <50% during lockdown. Interactions between coach/trainer and player were more frequent (ie, daily) among professional (27%) than amateur (11%) and semipro (17%) players. Training load monitoring, albeit limited, was mostly performed by fitness coaches, more so with professionals (35%) than amateurs (13%) and semipros (17%). The players' training knowledge and attitudes/beliefs toward training were relatively modest (50%-59%).CONCLUSION: COVID-19 lockdown negatively affected training practices of football players worldwide, especially amateurs and semipros, for example, in training frequency, duration, intensity, technical, recovery, and other fitness training and coaching-related aspects. During lockdown-like situations, players should be monitored closely and provided appropriate support to facilitate their training.
AB - UNLABELLED: The COVID-19 lockdown challenged the training options of athletes worldwide, including players from the most popular sport globally, football/soccer.PURPOSE: The authors explored the training practices of football players worldwide during the COVID-19 lockdown.METHODS: Football players (N = 2482, 30% professional, 22% semipro, and 48% amateur) completed an online survey (May-July 2020) on their training practices before versus during lockdown (March-June 2020). Questions were related to training frequency and session duration, as well as training knowledge and attitudes.RESULTS: Before lockdown, more professional (87%) than semipro (67%) and amateur (65%) players trained ≥5 sessions/wk, but this proportion decreased during the lockdown to 55%, 35%, and 42%, respectively. Players (80%-87%) trained ≥60 minutes before lockdown, but this proportion decreased to 45% in professionals, 43% in amateurs, and 36% in semipros during lockdown. At home, more than two-thirds of players had training space (73%) and equipment (66%) for cardiorespiratory training, while availability of equipment for technical and strength training was <50% during lockdown. Interactions between coach/trainer and player were more frequent (ie, daily) among professional (27%) than amateur (11%) and semipro (17%) players. Training load monitoring, albeit limited, was mostly performed by fitness coaches, more so with professionals (35%) than amateurs (13%) and semipros (17%). The players' training knowledge and attitudes/beliefs toward training were relatively modest (50%-59%).CONCLUSION: COVID-19 lockdown negatively affected training practices of football players worldwide, especially amateurs and semipros, for example, in training frequency, duration, intensity, technical, recovery, and other fitness training and coaching-related aspects. During lockdown-like situations, players should be monitored closely and provided appropriate support to facilitate their training.
KW - global sports
KW - periodization
KW - remote training
KW - soccer
KW - sport leagues
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85145242290
U2 - 10.1123/ijspp.2022-0186
DO - 10.1123/ijspp.2022-0186
M3 - Article
C2 - 36470251
SN - 1555-0265
VL - 18
SP - 37
EP - 46
JO - International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
JF - International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
IS - 1
ER -