Citation

Calleja-Gonzalez J, Marques-Jimenez D, Jones M, Huyghe T, Navarro F, Delextrat A, Jukic I, Ostojic SM, Sampaio JE, Schelling X, Alcaraz PE, Sanchez-Bañuelos F, Leibar X, Mielgo-Ayuso J, Terrados N. Front. Psychol. 2020; 11: e194.

Affiliation

Regional Unit of Sports Medicine, Aviles and Health Research Institute of the Principality of Asturias (ISPA), Oviedo, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00194

PMID

32153454

PMCID

PMC7046590

Abstract

Performance at the elite level in running-based team sports requires outlining the cyclical nature in which physiological and biomechanical loads lead to adaptation of the biological system as a whole (Vanrenterghem et al., 2017). Very commonly, there are congested fixture periods that seem to have no effect on physical activity, technical performance, and injury incidence (Dellal et al., 2015) injury rates or patterns (Carling et al., 2016), but do seem to decrease tactical performance, as measured by levels of movement synchronization (Folgado et al., 2015).

A very high traveling frequency is required to compete in elite professional sport. For example, the National Basketball Association's regular season consists of 82 games (41 home, 41 away) played over a 6-month period (Sampaio et al., 2015). This can have consequences for both physiological and psychological status and has the potential to impair performance, as seen in common anecdotal elite basketball player reports stating: “I want to sleep,” “I didn't sleep enough,” “I slept poorly,” “I get tired of traveling”; “I prefer to sleep at home even if it means getting home late.”

The sentiments and feelings like the aforementioned may clearly affect the balance between happiness and wellness (Calleja-Gonzalez et al., 2018). In that way, coaches focus on respecting, valuing, involving, engaging in dialogue with, listening to, and supporting players, as well as treating them as human beings, giving them the confidence and feelings of responsibility to try (Barker-Ruchti et al., 2014). There is a clear need for more research in this area, although some advances were already made by examining empathy using qualitative methods and identifying factors of empathy between athletes and coaches ...

Language: en

Keywords

TRIP; competition; fatigue; recovery; sport; training; travel