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The Fatigue and Fitness Test for Teams (FFITT): A practical option for monitoring athletes in a team as individuals

2019; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17461391.2019.1612951

1746-1391

Lindsay Starling, Stacy Nellemann, Andrew Parkes, Mike Lambert,

Sports injuries and prevention

We developed the Fatigue and Fitness Test for Teams (FFITT) to address the challenges of monitoring players in a team simultaneously. The test, which takes 8 min for the entire team, incorporates subjective measures of well-being (RTT-Q), and objective measures of the autonomic system (HRR60s) and neuromuscular function (SLJ). The aim of this study was to present the rationale for the FFITT as a novel athlete monitoring protocol and to measure the reliability of each component of the test. The internal consistency of the RTT-Q questions ranged from α = 0.69-0.92. All questions had an α > 0.83, with one exception of question 'Rate the well-being/stress your school/university/work is causing you to feel' which had an α = 0.69. The reliability of the HRR60s and SLJ was high (R = 0.92, and 0.91 respectively). The absolute typical error of measurement (TEM) of the SLJ was 8 cm and HRR60s was 3 beats. When expressed relatively the CVTEM of HRR60s was 8.4% and SLJ was 3.0%. Based on the TEM the HRR60s and SLJ could detect medium and large changes in fatigue and fitness. In absolute terms this equates to more than 5 bpm (HRR60s) and more than 13 cm (SLJ). The FFITT has the potential to satisfy both scientific principles and the coach's demands of a practical monitoring protocol for frequent use in a team.