Recovery

Learning Outcomes

• To understand what recovery is.
• To understand why and when recovery is undertaken.
• What types of recover protocols are out there.

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Introduction

Recovery is becoming increasingly important to athletes everywhere in a bid to reduce the effect of fatigue and enhance performance (1), none so more than in field hockey. Field hockey is an intermittent style sport that requires high levels of aerobic and anaerobic fitness (2) causing fatigue. Hockey is a sport that can require training sessions and matches be performed on back to back days if competing in competitions. In elite field hockey tournaments players are required to play or train daily, sometimes having the first three matches scheduled within 4 days (3). Multiple high intensity games in a few days with limited recovery time can be quite taxing on an athlete and lead to accumulative fatigue, which decreases performance (4,5,6).  

Therefore, having protocols in place for enhancing recovery or reducing fatigue between matches or training sessions are imperative and are a factor in success. These protocols are a key in helping the athletes maintain performance throughout tournaments and the season.  

Personal Preference

There is no one proper recovery method for athletes. Depending on what facilities are available to athletes can heavily influence what types of recovery they may perform. Things such as whether or not a pool is available, an exercise bike, cold water baths, a beach or foam rollers. 

Psychological Benefits

Some athletes may find that things work for them that don’t work for others which is fine. For example, one athlete may wake up feeling better after they sleep in their compression garments while others feel it may not make a difference at all. As long as that athlete feels like it benefits them and they feel fresh or recovered then that’s the important point.  

Monotony

Can lead to lower levels of motivation to recover.  

Changing the scenery or recovery method can be a great method to keep your athletes locked in. Instead of performing cold water immersion in a bath or bin perhaps do it in the ocean, or instead of stretching as a warm down perhaps get the athlete to receive a massage from the trainers.