Training Practices of Football Players During the Early COVID-19 Lockdown Worldwide

Washif JA 1 , Mujika I 2 , DeLang MD 3 , Brito J 4 , Dellal A 5 , Haugen T 6 Show all authors , Hassanmirzaei B 7 , Wong DP 8 , Farooq A 9 , Dönmez G 10 , Kim KJ 11 , Duque JDP 12 , MacMillan L 13 , Matsunaga R 14 , Rabbani A 15 , Romdhani M 16 , Tabben M 9 , Zerguini Y 17 , Zmijewski P 18 , Pyne DB 19 , Chamari K 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Sports Performance Division, Institut Sukan Negara Malaysia (National Sports Institute of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country, Leioa,Basque Country
  • 3 Right to Dream Academy, Old Akrade,Ghana
  • 4 Portugal Football School, Portuguese Football Federation, Oeiras,Portugal
  • 5 Laboratoire Interuniversitaire de Biologie de la Motricité (LIBM EA), Claude Bernard University (Lyon 1), Lyon,France
  • 6 School of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo,Norway
  • 7 Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran,Iran
  • 8 School of Nursing and Health Studies, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong
  • 9 Aspetar, Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, FIFA Medical Center of Excellence, Doha,Qatar
  • 10 Department of Sports Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara,Turkey
  • 11 Department of Internal Medicine,Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul,South Korea
  • 12 Al Hilal Football Club, Riyadh,Saudi Arabia
  • 13 Sport Science Department, Fulham Football Club, London,United Kingdom
  • 14 Antlers Sports Clinic, Kashima,Japan
  • 15 Department of Exercise Physiology, College of Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan,Iran
  • 16 Movement-Interactions-Performance (MIP), UR4334, Le Mans Université, Le Mans,France
  • 17 FIFA Medical Center of Excellence Algiers, Algiers,Algeria
  • 18 Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw,Poland
  • 19 Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT,Australia
Int J Sports Physiol Perform, 2023 Jan 01;18(1):37-46.
PMID: 36470251 DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2022-0186

Abstract

The COVID-19 lockdown challenged the training options of athletes worldwide, including players from the most popular sport globally, football/soccer.

PURPOSE: The authors explored the training practices of football players worldwide during the COVID-19 lockdown.

METHODS: Football players (N = 2482, 30% professional, 22% semipro, and 48% amateur) completed an online survey (May-July 2020) on their training practices before versus during lockdown (March-June 2020). Questions were related to training frequency and session duration, as well as training knowledge and attitudes.

RESULTS: Before lockdown, more professional (87%) than semipro (67%) and amateur (65%) players trained ≥5 sessions/wk, but this proportion decreased during the lockdown to 55%, 35%, and 42%, respectively. Players (80%-87%) trained ≥60 minutes before lockdown, but this proportion decreased to 45% in professionals, 43% in amateurs, and 36% in semipros during lockdown. At home, more than two-thirds of players had training space (73%) and equipment (66%) for cardiorespiratory training, while availability of equipment for technical and strength training was <50% during lockdown. Interactions between coach/trainer and player were more frequent (ie, daily) among professional (27%) than amateur (11%) and semipro (17%) players. Training load monitoring, albeit limited, was mostly performed by fitness coaches, more so with professionals (35%) than amateurs (13%) and semipros (17%). The players' training knowledge and attitudes/beliefs toward training were relatively modest (50%-59%).

CONCLUSION: COVID-19 lockdown negatively affected training practices of football players worldwide, especially amateurs and semipros, for example, in training frequency, duration, intensity, technical, recovery, and other fitness training and coaching-related aspects. During lockdown-like situations, players should be monitored closely and provided appropriate support to facilitate their training.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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