BACKGROUND: Fatigue-induced changes influence physical performance of youth players during and after handball matches.
HYPOTHESIS: Players with higher levels of neuromuscular performance may exhibit reduced postmatch fatigue and a faster recovery.
METHODS: A total of 34 outfield male youth handball players participated in this study (age, 15.42 ± 1.65 years; height, 171.31 ± 9.92 cm; body mass, 64.68 ± 15.14 kg). Each participant played 1 simulated match during the in-season phase. Neuromuscular performance was evaluated pre-, post-, 24 hours post-, and 48 hours postmatch using the maximal isometric hand grip strength test, the countermovement jump test, the 505 change of direction test, and a linear straight sprint test (i.e., 10 m, 20 m, 30 m). Moreover, perceived wellness was obtained at pre-, 24 hours post-, and 48 hours postmatch, and match-related internal and external loads were monitored. Random forest clustering was used to categorize participants into 2 clusters based on their prematch neuromuscular performance (i.e., higher- and lower-performing players).
RESULTS: Higher-performing players experienced greater internal and external match loads but showed minimal postmatch performance declines (P < 0.05). During the recovery period, lower-performing players exhibited greater impairments in sprint performance while higher-performing players reported elevated perceived fatigue and exhibited greater impairments in change of direction performance (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Higher neuromuscular performance enables youth handball players to manifest superior physical outputs during simulated matches and minimizes the extent of match-induced acute fatigue, but the contribution to a faster recovery remains unclear.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Training programs for youth handball players should emphasize the development of neuromuscular function, not only for enhancing match physical performance, but also for reducing acute fatigue.
STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, comparative, repeated-measures observational design was used.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.
Read the article: PubMed · Publisher (DOI)