Changes in subjective mental and physical fatigue during netball games in elite development athletes

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2019.12.017
• Publication Date: 2019-12-23T17:40:13Z
• Authors: Suzanna Russell; David Jenkins; Shona Halson; Vincent Kelly
• Keywords: cognition; Competitive Behavior; Adolescent; Physical Therapy; sports performance; Mental processes; mental capacity; Mental capacity; Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation; cognitive fatigue; Basketball; perception; Athletic Performance; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 2732 Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Cognition; 0302 clinical medicine; Humans; Orthopedics and Sports Medicine; Fatigue; Sports performance; mental processes; Cognitive fatigue; Perception; Female; 3612 Physical Therapy

To assess the magnitude of changes in, and relationships between, physical and mental fatigue pre-to-post match in elite development netballers.Observational.Twelve female netballers (21.3±2.9 years) competing in the Australian Netball League reported perceptual measures of mental and physical fatigue pre- and post-match on 12 separate competition occasions. Minutes played, to allow for calculation of weighted changes (ratings proportional to playing time), positional groups and performance analysis variables were also assessed.Post-match ratings were higher (p<0.01) than pre-match for both mental (pre: 31.02±19.28; post: 44.73±24.47) and physical fatigue (pre: 28.86±15.37; post: 47.21±24.67). The correlation coefficient between change in mental and physical fatigue (r=0.37, p<0.01) revealed a shared variance of 13.9%. Acute changes in mental fatigue were related to minutes played (r=0.32, p<0.01) as was change in physical fatigue (r=0.59, p<0.01). No differences in change in mental fatigue were found between positional groups (p=0.07) though change in physical fatigue was higher for shooters compared to defenders (p<0.05). Performance variables revealed no relationships with mental or physical fatigue, with the exception of turnover number with both post-match weighted physical (r= -0.23, p<0.01) and weighted-change in physical fatigue (r=-0.16, p<0.05).Mental and physical fatigue were found to increase across netball matches in elite development athletes. Mental fatigue emerged as a largely separate construct to physical fatigue.