Monitoring of the preseason soccer period in non-professional players

This study aimed to monitor the training load and to evaluate the fluctuations of straight and change of direction sprinting during a 5-week of the preseason period in 17 non-professional soccer players. Straight 10-m sprint and 15-m zigzag sprint tests were applied six times: at the beginning and on each Friday. Monitoring of the internal training load has been achieved by the Edwards’ TL and the session-RPE, while the external training load was measured by the GPS system. A general prevalence of low-intensity activities within training units and friendly matches were observed, with an increase in high-intensity activities during the last two weeks of the preseason. The performance of both sprint tests decreased during the first three weeks, becoming better at the end of the period, relative to a higher training load scheduled at the beginning of the preseason. Fluctuations in training load emerged along the five weeks with a continuous decrement from the first to the third week, while during the fourth and fifth week a moderate increase was achieved. Moreover, a very large correlation (r=0.71; p<.001) was evident between the Edwards’ TL and the session-RPE, highlighting the usefulness of an easy and valid method to monitor the internal training load. In conclusion, combining the monitoring of training load and the administration of field tests lead to a better distribution of workload, done by the coaching staff, thus avoiding excessive athletes’ overstressing.