The effects of match congestion on gait complexity in female collegiate soccer players

This investigation examined the effects of a congested match schedule on gait complexity in collegiate female soccer players. Participants were 7 female collegiate players. Each day, training and match loads were recorded during a 6-day period that included two competitive matches (separated by 66 hours) using a GPS, acceleration, and heart rate monitoring, and perceptual recovery scores. Gait was examined before each training session, during a 400 m run at comfortable pace. Spatiotemporal characteristics were computed using continuous wavelet transform, and gait complexity was assessed with detrended fluctuation analysis. High match load (HML) players played more minutes than the low match load (LML) players (78.6 ± 4.9 vs 15.8 ± 4.9 minutes, P < 0.05) and covered more total distance (TotDist) between the initial and final session (31970.5 ± 13190.9 vs 22905.5 ± 1673.1 m, P < 0.05). During this period, greater accumulated TotDist and recovery scores were associated with decreases in the gait fractal scaling index (r = −0.5 to −0.83), despite little change in spatiotemporal characteristics. This study indicates increased load during a 6-day period of training and matches alters gait complexity. It is possible that some aspect of central and/or peripheral fatigue alters motor control leading to less structured gait variability.