The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 led to a situation of home lockdown. Competitions, training, and sports activities were canceled for much of this period. This situation could have affected the physical and mental health and the mood states of young athletes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the variations in the mood states of young athletes of a highly competitive level during the different phases of lockdown in. The mood states of 45 Spanish youth athletes confined during the 10-week lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic -19 were assessed, using the Spanish-translated version of the POMS questionnaire, at the start of the home lockdown and at the start and at the end of the partial lockdown. The Total Mood Disturbance scores at week 10 were lower than those obtained in week 1 (pBonferroni = 0.031). The depression scores at week 6 (pBonferroni = 0.048) and at week 10 (pBonferroni < 0.001) were lower than those obtained in week 1. The confusion scores at week 10 were lower than those obtained in week 1 (pBonferroni = 0.002). These variations differed between team and individual sports. In conclusion, the lockdown produced changes in the young athletes’ mood states that should be considered when trying to optimize their physical and mental performance.

and Madruga-Parera, Marc (2019) The validity and reliability of a novel app for the measurement of change of direction performance. Journal of Sports Sciences .

The aim of this research was to analyze the effects of a two-week step tapering period on lower-limb muscle power, change of direction (COD) and acceleration capacities, and on the stress-recovery state in an amateur soccer team. Twenty-two male players were included in the study. Following a six-week progressive training, the sample was divided into: experimental group (n = 11), who did a two-week period of taper in which training volume was 50% reduced (intensity was kept high) and control group (n = 11), which kept on with the training. Muscle power (countermovement jump test), acceleration (10m sprint test), COD (Illinois test) and stress and recovery perceptions (RESTQ questionnaire) were evaluated before training, at the end of it (pre-tapering, PRE-TP) and after the tapering period (post-tapering, POST-TP). Following the taper, the experimental group in comparison to the control group showed significantly improved power (1029.71 ± 108.51 W/kg vs. 1084.21 ± 110.87 W/kg; p < 0.01), acceleration (1.72 ± 0.09 s vs. 1.67 ± 0.07 s; p < 0.05), and lower stress levels (1.9±0.5 vs. 1.6±0.5; p < 0.01) (PRE-TP vs. POST-TP, respectively). COD did not show significant changes. In conclusion, a two-week step tapering program was found to be an effective periodization strategy to increase muscle power and acceleration, and to reduce stress perception in soccer amateur players.

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