The importance of a multidisciplinary team and the conditioning services in elite clubs of roller hockey.
Monica De Vega Casassas, Vicenç Hernández-González, Carme Jové-Deltell and 1 others
PMID 29950764WHAT IT FOUND
Top Spanish roller hockey clubs reported more full-time conditioning and physiotherapy staff than second-tier clubs.
Coaches in the lower league also reported more work deficiencies in equipment, facilities, and player availability. No team reported a sports psychologist.
Key findings
01OK Liga teams more often had full-time physical trainers and physiotherapists than First Division teams (>75% versus 43.7%).
02First Division physical trainers reported more deficiencies than OK Liga physical trainers (average 3.5 versus 2.1).
03No team had contracted the services of a sports psychologist.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The findings are based on physical conditioning coaches' self-reported views, so deficiencies may be subjective. The sample was small and specific: 28 of 30 male Spanish roller hockey teams in 2014/15. The survey reported staffing and perceived deficiencies, not outcomes measured in players. Some percentages come from only 12 or 16 teams, so differences between leagues may not be stable.
Declared interests
The work was financed by the SGR (2014/16N: 917) Generalitat de Catalunya. The four named authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the staffing differences as proof that adding physiotherapists or conditioning coaches improves player health or performance. This paper reports coaches' survey responses about services and perceived deficiencies, not measured outcomes.