Training monitoring in professional Australian football: theoretical basis and recommendations for coaches and scientists

Australian football (AF) is a high-intensity field-based sport with regular collisions and intense physical demands such as jumping, tackling and jostling, resulting in neuromuscular fatigue and soreness, combined with external stressors (i.e., sponsorship, education, family). These can influence an athlete's fatigue and recovery status, requiring an individualised approach to monitoring to optimise training readiness. Optimal readiness would reflect a condition where an athlete has no impairment of physical performance, no mental fatigue or excessive psychological distress. A theoretical framework exists for athlete monitoring that includes the quantification of training load and understanding individual ability to tolerate the training demands imposed by coaches. However, while this approach is thought to ultimately determine the readiness of a player for training and competition, it has not been tested empirically. The purpose of this review is to describe the theoretical basis that underpins athlete monitoring systems, and to provide an overview of their contribution to decision-making processes in planning and delivery of training in professional AF players. This review can assist coaches and scientists to gain a better understanding of commonly used monitoring measures and how the information derived from these sources is applied in a professional AF environment.