Pruna, G. J. (2014). Less than 48-hour recovery period may not be sufficient to maintain performance in women’s soccer. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46(5), Supplement abstract number 1452.

“During the competitive soccer season, women’s intercollegiate games are typically played on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The efficacy of this ~ 42-hour window with regards to adequate recovery is not well understood.”

This study determined physiological performance differences between Friday and Sunday soccer games during a competitive season. Ss (N = 10; NCAA Division I female players) were monitored with a 10-Hz GPS receiver/transmitter across eight weekends in which games were played on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon. Five games were played at home and three were away. Ss represented three positions; two were outside backs, four were midfielders, and four were forwards. In consideration of the player substitution policy, all data were relative to minutes played and used for analysis in Ss that participated in a minimum of 45 minutes per game. Average minutes, total game-distance covered, average distance of high-intensity runs, and the number of sprints were calculated for each game. High-intensity running was considered as a running velocity exceeding or equal to 3.61 m/second for greater than one second.

Distance covered during Sundays’ games was less than that seen during Fridays’ contests. The distance covered in high-intensity running was also reduced during Sunday’s contests. No differences were noted in average minutes played or in the number of sprint efforts from Friday to Sunday.

Implication. College Division I female soccer players covered less distance per minute played and less distance at high-intensity running during Sunday games. This suggests that there might be insufficient recovery time between games in the usual Friday evening and Sunday afternoon time slots.

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