Physical demands and psychophysiological stress in young athletes team sports

Abstract

Training monitoring is important in the development process of the athlete. The objective of the study was to characterize the psychophysiological response and physical demands of soccer, basketball, handball, and volleyball with young athletes. The sample consisted of 61 young athletes of both genders and members of team sports, 10 training sessions for each modality were monitored. The psychophysiological responses were monitored by the session rating perception of exertion (Session RPE) and training impulse (TRIMP). The physical demands were, distance covered (DC), DC by speed zone (DC_Z1, DC_Z2, DC_Z3, DC_Z4, DC_Z5), number of sprints, and duration of the session. In addition, the recovery status (TQR) was also collected. Differences were noted between duration (p<0.001), DC_Z1 (p<0.017), DC_Z2 (p<0.05), DC_Z3 (p<0.05), DC_Z4 (p<0.003), DC_Z5 (p < 0.05), sprints (p < 0.001), TRIMP (p<0.02), Session RPE (p<0.05) and TQR (p<0.007). In psychophysiological responses, handball showed more time in zones 4 and 5 than other modalities. According to physical demands, basketball, and handball had a higher number of sprints and also higher values in DP_Z5. Therefore, the simultaneous monitoring of physical demands and psychophysiological responses provides supplementary information in monitoring young athletes.