Acute effects of mental recovery strategies in simulated air rifle competitions

Fabian Loch; Alexander Ferrauti; Tim Meyer; Mark Pfeiffer; Michael Kellmann

doi:10.3389/fspor.2023.1087995

Acute effects of mental recovery strategies in simulated air rifle competitions

Front Sports Act Living. 2023 May 15:5:1087995. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1087995. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fabian Loch¹, Alexander Ferrauti², Tim Meyer³, Mark Pfeiffer⁴, Michael Kellmann^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sport Psychology, Faculty of Sport Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
² Department of Training and Exercise Science, Faculty of Sport Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
³ Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
⁴ Department of Theory and Practice of Sports, Institute of Sport Science, Mainz, Germany.
⁵ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the perception and change of mental and physical fatigue and to examine acute effects of mental recovery strategies in air rifle athletes across simulated competition days with two consecutive competition bouts.

Design: We conducted a randomized counterbalanced crossover study.

Method: 22 development air rifle athletes (M_age = 17.77 ± 4.0) of a regional squad participate in the study. The Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS), perception of mental fatigue, physical fatigue, concentration and motivation as well as differential Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) were used to assess recovery-stress states and fatigue states. During a recovery break, participants underwent two mental recovery strategies (powernap, systematic breathing) or a control condition. Total shooting scores were recorded for both competition bouts.

Results: Study results revealed a significant increase of post ratings for mental (p < .001) and physical fatigue (p < .001) for both competition bouts. The correlation coefficient between change in mental and physical fatigue for both competitions revealed a shared variance of 7.9% and 18.6%, respectively. No significant group-based acute effects of the use of mental recovery strategies on shooting performance, and psychological and perceptual measures were found. On an individual level, results illustrated statistical relevant improvements of shooting performance after powernapping or systematic breathing.

Conclusion: Mental and physical fatigue increased and accumulated across a simulated air rifle competition and mental fatigue emerged as a separate construct from physical fatigue. The use of strategies to accelerate mental recovery on an individual level (e.g., powernap, systematic breathing) may be a first step to manage a state of mental fatigue, but further studies on mental recovery strategies in an applied setting are needed.

Keywords: fatigue; mental break; performance; psychological; rest.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the German Federal Institute of Sport Science and realized within the project “REGman—Optimization of Training and Competition: Management of Regeneration in Elite Sports [grant number IIA1-081901/12-20]”. Moreover, we acknowledge support by the DFG Open Access Publication Funds of the Ruhr University Bochum.