Athlete Workloads During Collegiate Women's Soccer Practice: Implications for Return to Play

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Exercise Physiology

Background:

• Wearable technology is widely used for monitoring soccer athletes.
• Existing research often focuses on overall season loads, with limited data on individual practice drills.
• Understanding drill-specific demands is crucial for athletic trainers, especially for return-to-play protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify total distance, player load (PL), and per-minute metrics for various practice drills and game play.
• To analyze these demands across different player positions in female collegiate soccer athletes throughout a season.
• To provide descriptive data on training loads during specific practice drill structures.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective observational study was conducted with 32 NCAA Division I female soccer players.
• Athletes wore a GPS and triaxial accelerometer unit during all practices and games over one season.
• Practice drills were categorized (physical, technical, tactical, large-sided, small-sided), and descriptive analyses were performed.

Main Results:

• Large- and small-sided competition drills constituted the highest workload (approx. 20% of total practice) for all positions.
• Technical skills drills resulted in greater distance covered (approx. 17%) compared to tactical drills (approx. 15%).
• Tactical skills drills led to higher play intensity (approx. 18%) than technical skills drills (approx. 13%), with defenders showing the highest median player load.

Conclusions:

• Practice drill types impose distinct and varied physiological demands on female soccer players, simulating game conditions.
• This data can assist athletic trainers and clinicians in developing objective return-to-play guidelines for injured athletes.
• Understanding position-specific and drill-specific loads is key for optimizing training and recovery strategies.