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SSA Blog: Sports science in 2020
Since March and the dawning realisation of the seriousness of Covid-19, 2020 has presented challenges for sport scientists. At the elite end of the profession, event cancellations, postponements and lockdowns inhibited training and monitoring plans. For those that use exercise as a health intervention, social restrictions interrupted programmes and the worry of increasing sedentary behaviour caused concern particularly among older and isolated groups. In this blog, Sport Science Agency will take a look back at some of the key developments that have shaped sports science in 2020.
SSA Blog: Festive indulgence
Christmas marks a time of year when diet and exercise habits can fall by the wayside, often replaced by excessive eating and drinking. Celebrations and events get in the way of those regular runs, staff holidays halt gym classes and even everyday activity such as walking sometimes tail off.
SSA Blog: The fans are back
With the ending of the UK’s month-long autumn COVID-19 national lockdown, the government has moved to continue its tentative steps back towards normality by allowing crowds to return to sporting fixtures. Inevitably, the focus has fallen on football with clubs in tiers 1 and 2 areas allowed to welcome 4,000 and 2,000 fans respectively.
SSA Blog: A life lesson from lockdown
The wider health implications of lockdown are becoming increasingly understood. The Chief Medical officer Professor Chris Whitty, said when questioned about the impact of lockdown 2.0, “there are no good solutions. All the solutions are bad”. Countries and regions across Europe have approached lockdowns with different levels of severity. While gyms have been asked to close in England, it has been striking that the health authorities have repeatedly pushed the importance of exercise and continued to champion its benefits, allowing people to leave their homes to maintain some level of activity.
SSA Blog: Increasing use of CBD in Elite Rugby: A New Sponsorship Category?
Rugby Restart has seen Gallagher Premiership and Guinness Pro 14 sides return to competition following their enforced stoppage due to Covid-19. The intense schedule implemented in order to finish the season has seen squads increase player rotation more frequently as they manage player loads recovery and injury. While player welfare measures have been put in place by World Rugby to reduce the risk associated with collisions, there is little to suggest that collision-induced muscle damage or injury is set to decrease. Players and clubs will therefore continue to seek optimised recovery strategies following matches and training.
Performance Stories: Mental fatigue
Sport Science Agency discusses some of the latest research regarding mental fatigue in Football. They touch on how more insight can make better fans and help brands or the clubs view performance in a more holistic manner to drive increased credibility.
Performance Stories: Premier League drinks break
Sport Science Agency discusses the Premier League drinks break and how brands can develop activation around this new, predictable and therefore plannable stoppage in play.
SSA Blog: NBA bubble
As with almost all professional sports, NBA basketball was curtailed by COVID-19 and the league suspended between 11th March and 30th June. Upon resumption 22 of the 30 teams headed to Walt Disney World, Orlando to be part of “the bubble” in order to conclude the regular season, playins, playoffs and finals.
SSA Blog: Andy's apparel appeal
Following what he described as “the hardest match of my career” Andy Murray was unable to repeat the heroics of his 2020 US Open first-round victory. After an absence of over a year from the Grand Slam scene, a grinding five-set battle lasting over four hours was not what he or his performance team would have wanted. His second-round tie proved too much at this stage of his comeback as he lost in straight sets.
SSA Blog: Pain in the neck
Nico Hülkenberg’s return to Formula 1 racing was delayed by a week, but following qualifying, it was well worth the wait. Technical issues prevented Hülkenberg from making the start line last week, as his car failed to ‘fire up’ and he was left to watch the race from the team motor home. This weekend he maintained his place in the Racing Point team and put in a quite magnificent one lap qualifying performance. But will his lack of race fitness be a factor during the 52 laps of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020?
SSA Blog: Follow the leader
The captaincy has been somewhat of a poisoned chalice for past English all-rounders. Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff’s brief tenures in the role are the obvious examples. Despite being dominant performers, both were unable to transfer that dominance into successful captaincy. It is often said that the burden of captaincy inhibits a player’s ability to play. It creates a greater cognitive load and inhibits the ability to focus on their usual role. Is there any evidence to support this observation?
SSA Blog: Training partners
Project restart created an unprecedented interest from football media and fans into training, performance and the potential for injury that the return from lockdown has created. As we have mentioned in a number of previous blogs (It’s back, Recovery position, Project restart), Covid-19 presented staff with a number of unique challenges. There was no playbook for lockdown and the extended break it caused. There was no fixed return date to build conditioning towards, and there was no clear understanding of the fixture demands if/when competition was to return.
SSA Blog: Its back...
So here we are, after 100 days, the Premier League is back. Two games launch Project Restart, Aston Villa vs Sheffield United and Manchester City vs Arsenal. Players have been through lockdown, socially distanced training, limited group training, full contact training and finally behind closed doors friendly games in preparation.
SSA Blog: Recovery position...
Earlier this month we took a look at the Premier League’s Project Restart as growing evidence suggested players could face increased injury risk upon their return. The risk of injury has been associated with deconditioning during the lockdown period and the relatively short reconditioning time before competitive games restart. Initial data from the Bundesliga, plus, now famous, research from the NFL during its lockout season of 2011 suggest injuries will be a greater risk for Premier League players upon return to play.
SSA Blog: Catch me if you can
On Sunday evening, a series of celebrity riders will take on Chris Froome in a charity cycling event; The Race - Wheels for Heroes. The aim is to raise money for NHS staff helping them access bikes to travel to work during the Covid-19 crisis. The various celebs will be given a head start before the seven-time Grand Tour champion sets off to hunt them down. The Race will take place not in the real world, but in the virtual world of Zwift’s Watopia, on the 22.9km Volcano route and will broadcast on both Sky Sports and Youtube.
SSA Blog: Project Restart
The Premier League is set to resume on the 17th June, subject to continued government approval. It marks the latest step in the much publicised Project Restart. If all goes to plan the season commences with midweek games between Aston Villa and Sheffield United and Manchester City vs Arsenal before a full round of weekend fixtures between 19th - 21st. The last Premier League action took place on 9th March. For the players, this will mean a gap of over 3 months since they were last involved in competitive action.
SSA Blog: Wear sunscreen
Premier League players returned to training in small groups this week as part of the ongoing Covid-19 return to play protocols. The improvement in the weather offered a pleasant backdrop for coaches, players, and a limited number of sport scientists to be out on the training ground. It also gave media teams a valuable opportunity to capture content for the many behind the scenes training videos being produced to satisfy fans’ thirst for content.