Match-Related Time Course of Perceived Recovery in Youth Football Players

To examine the reproducibility of the Perceived Recovery Status (PRS) scale in football players and describe the time course of the PRS in response to a football match.

Twenty trained youth players (mean [SD] age = 16.2 [1.2] y, height = 1.75 [0.07] m, body mass = 64.0 [7.8] kg) took part in the study. PRS was collected -2 h and -30 min before and +15 min, +3 h, and +24 h after an international football match. Players were categorized into 2 groups based on their playing time (≤45 and 90 min).

Reproducibility of the PRS was high (intraclass correlation coefficient = .83, typical error = 0.59, coefficient of variation = 9.9%) between the 2 prematch measures. Overall, PRS was lower at +15 min (4.0 [1.5]; P < .01, effect size = 2.2) and +3 h (4.7 [1.6]; P < .01, effect size = 1.5) compared with -30 min (7.1 [1.3]); +15 min was lower than +24 h (6.1 [1.3]; P < .01, effect size = 1.5). No differences between groups for PRS scores at any of the time points were found.

The PRS is a reproducible tool for monitoring perceptions of recovery to football activity and is sensitive to time-course changes relating to a match. The scale is an easy and efficient tool that can be used to monitor an aspect of recovery.