Player perceptions of sports science monitoring practices in elite academy football

Ellis, Benjamin (2024). Player perceptions of sports science monitoring practices in elite academy football. University of Birmingham. M.Sc.

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Abstract

Introduction: Professional football players are subject to several different sports science and performance monitoring practices in an attempt to give applied practitioners a sound understanding of what training load coaches are prescribing to their players, but also to receive feedback on how players are reacting to the given training stimulus. To the writer’s knowledge however, little to no information exists in the current literature base that discusses what perceptions players themselves have of these monitoring practices. Study Purpose: The objectives of this study were to 1) Give athletes the opportunity to share experiences and feedback their own thoughts on monitoring methods, 2) Give applied practitioners feedback on how to successfully implement sports science monitoring practices from the opinion of the players themselves, 3) Provide evidence in an ongoing discussion surrounding the use of data in professional sport and inspire further study in the domain. Methods: 4 football players (age 17-21) from the development squad of a category 1 professional football academy took part in a 30-minute, semi-structured, focus group interview led by the head researcher to share their experiences of monitoring practices within their football academy. Thematic Analysis was then used to identify topics for wider discussion, and feed on recommendations to applied practitioners in the field and for further study. Results: Players appear to show a greater understanding and adherence to methods that are collected from them daily as opposed to practices that are more sporadic in nature. Player responses also highlighted the importance of player education regarding monitoring uses and the theory behind them in order to maximise adherence and limit negative perceptions of the practice or the practitioner. Conclusion: It is recommended that in order to help improve player perceptions of sports science monitoring practice that: 1) The monitoring methods are used as an educational tool for players. 2) This information is readily available to players should they wish to view it. 3) The information collected is used to inform practice or cause tangible change where possible. Indeed, these results reflect the reality of monitoring practices within one football academy and more research should be conducted with larger and more varied data sets to further investigate the perceptions of players more broadly in professional football.
Key Words: Monitoring, Football, Soccer, Subjective, Player Feedback

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Sc.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Sc.

Supervisor(s):