Young high-level players present fast recovery after a game

This is the conclusion of a study published in this month issue of the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise by Rampinini and his colleagues.

What they did?

Twenty two 19 yr old professional players from an Italian Serie A team were tested for sprint, strength and short-passing ability before, immediately after, 24 h and 48 h post a 90min friendly match. Total distance (TD) and high intensity distance (HID) covered during the game were 11.764m and 2664m, respectively. TD and HID were lower in the 2^nd than in the 1^st half. The mean heart rate was 88% and 82,5% of maximal in the 1^st and 2^nd half, respectively.

What did they find?

• Legs maximum strength and 40m run time recovered to pre-game values in 48 h of recovery.
• Short-passing ability was not affected by fatigue and was similar immediately post-match compared with the pre-game values.

Practical applications

1. Match fatigue may not affect short-passing ability, at least in high-level players.
2. Certain fitness parameters may return to pre-game values within 48 h after the match. This finding might indicate a faster recovery rate in young compared with adult players. I am not aware of such data in the literature and this is an interesting question for further investigation.
3. Young high-level players may be ready for intense training 48 h after a game.
4. High-level player of this age might be able to cope with 2 games per week.

One more thing. We do not know whether there is a cumulative effect on fatigue with several games played every 3-4 days, as the authors also state in their paper.