Intra- and Inter-week Variations of Well-Being Across a Season: A Cohort Study in Elite Youth Male Soccer Players

Hadi Nobari; Maryam Fani; Filipe Manuel Clemente; Jorge Carlos-Vivas; Jorge Pérez-Gómez; Luca Paolo Ardigò

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671072

Intra- and Inter-week Variations of Well-Being Across a Season: A Cohort Study in Elite Youth Male Soccer Players

Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 9:12:671072. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671072. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hadi Nobari^{1

2

3}, Maryam Fani⁴, Filipe Manuel Clemente⁵, Jorge Carlos-Vivas², Jorge Pérez-Gómez², Luca Paolo Ardigò⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
² HEME Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
³ Sepahan Football Club, Isfahan, Iran.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences in Sport and Health, Faculty of Sports Sciences and Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana Do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial Comercial de Nun'Álvares, Viana Do Castelo, Portugal.
⁶ Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, School of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Abstract

This study describes the weekly variations of well-being ratings relative to fatigue (wFatigue), stress (wStress), delayed-onset muscle soreness (wDOMS), sleep quality (wSleep), and Hooper questionnaire (wHQ) throughout the season. In addition, the well-being variables for the playing position in different moments of the season were discussed. Twenty-one elite young soccer players U17 took part in this study. From the beginning of the pre-season, well-being status was monitored daily by the HQ method throughout 36 weeks, including four periods: (1) pre-season, (2) early-season, (3) mid-season, and (4) end-season. Players trained at least 3 times per week throughout the season. The main outcome was that, in weeks 33 and 28, the highest [wFatigue: 15.85 ± 3.38 arbitrary units (AU); wHQ: 48.86 ± 9.23 AU] and the lowest (wFatigue: 5.38 ± 1.88 AU; wHQ: 20.43 ± 5.49 AU) wFatigue and wHQ occurred, respectively, although the lowest level of wDOMS happened in week 28 (4.86 ± 2.15 AU), while the highest wDOMS was observed in week 5 (14.65 ± 4.16 AU). The highest wSleep (13.00 ± 2.12 AU) and wStress (11.65 ± 2.92 AU) were observed in weeks 8 and 34, respectively, while the lowest wSleep (5.81 ± 2.29 AU) and wStress (3.76 ± 0.94 AU) were marked in week 29 coincidentally. In the HQ between every weekday, except recovery day, and the day of the match (MD), considerable highest HQ was only revealed in 2 days after MD in contrast to overall team comparison. In the present study, we observed that the well-being changes between different phases of the season as well as between weeks and days of the week with the MD are significant. These results provide a great point of view for coaches and practitioners about well-being variations over a season in elite youth soccer level. As a result, coaches will be more aware about non-functional overreaching and taking measures to prevent it.

Keywords: hooper index; monitoring; performance; playing position; professional; recovery.