Perceived Stress Rating Tool for balancing stress and recovery in team sports -case Pelicans U20

Ice hockey player in Finland, by the age of 20, lives in very challenging operational environment. For helping players to cope in that environment, there exists a need for a tool to use in team sports for the purpose of helping to control the stress and recovery balance. For two consecutive years, the Pelicans U20-team utilized a modified tool to rate perceived stress. Overall stress value became the basis of the author’s coaching philosophy: homeostasis in life must remain throughout different periods in sports. Stress is a more complex phenomenon than is commonly thought. Stress can arise externally or internally, and the connections of different stressors are still not fully reported. Recovery from different types of stressors demand a variety of methods which are based on individual differences of the athlete. Balancing stress and recovery in everyday life is a challenge for everyone inside and outside of sport. To understand the operational environment in which the U20 player lives is the basis for being able to increase an individual player’s awareness of the athletic lifestyle. Ice hockey takes a large role in the player’s life. To better understand the connections between the young player’s environment and life, it is necessary to analyse also ice hockey more carefully. The objective of this case study is to present the Perceived Stress Rating Tool. This thesis describes how the tool was utilized. Different stress and recovery variables are presented in the theoretical framework and in through concrete case examples. Also presented are the important philosophies of balance in life and the holistic perspective in coaching. Those factors have major influence on long term athlete development. Experiences of utilizing the Perceived Rating Tool to follow balance in stress and recovery were encouraging. The Rating Tool was at the same time simple and accurate. Significant information from an individual player’s current manners in life were found through the use of Rating Tool. Psychosocial stress and state of health were easier to point out when players’ had to evaluate themselves. The Rating Tool helped both the coach and the player in the discussion of critical topics. Various recovery methods were determined based on the type of stressors involved. Coach and player could, for example, decide together to change the periodization cycle in physical conditioning. Adjusting load in exercises or controlling the amount of games were also possible solutions. Increased social interaction between coach and players supported the holistic perspective in coaching. Monitoring overall stress and recovery is crucial in athlete development. Usually the challenge is not overtraining but under-recovery. The selection of the method is not crucial. What makes the difference is how to utilize the selected method systematically. The aim is to find proper tool for the needs of specific team. The Perceived Stress Rating Tool is a good way to monitor and evaluate overall stress and the effect of different stressors