title: Physical performance and subjective ratings after a soccer-specific exercise simulation: comparison of natural grass versus artificial turf.
abstract: This study aimed to compare the recovery kinetics of physical performance and subjective ratings in response to a soccer-specific exercise simulation on natural grass and artificial turf. Physical performance tests and subjective ratings were assessed on 13 professional soccer players before, immediately after, 24 h and 48 h after the test. Physical performance tests included squat jump, countermovement jump, 6-s sprint on a non-motorised treadmill and isokinetic eccentric hamstring assessment (2.09 rad · s(-1)). Hamstring peak torque decrement was higher (P < 0.05) on natural grass than on artificial turf immediately (-4.0%, CI 95%: -10.0 to 2.0%, effect size [ES] = 0.29), 24 h (-3.1%, CI 95%: -9.3 to 3.1%, ES = 0.29) and 48 h (-3.8%, CI 95%: -8.5 to 0.9%, ES = 0.43) after the test. Squat jump performance decrement was significantly lower (P < 0.05) on natural grass than artificial turf 48 h after the test (+3.7%, CI 95%: 1.1 to 6.3%, ES = 0.40). Sprint performance showed no change from baseline performance for both trials throughout the protocol. No significant interaction between surface and time was found for countermovement jump and subjective ratings. These results suggest that a one-off exercise on artificial turf does not induce greater fatigue nor does it delay the recovery process when compared to natural grass among regular artificial turf players.
authors.affiliation: University of Lille Nord de France, UDSL, EA 4488, 9 rue de l'Université, Ronchin, 59790, France.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nédélec
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCall
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carling
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Gall
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berthoin
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dupont
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D006109:Poaceae; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties; D019415:Torque