My background:
I am in my final year of Health and Performance in UCD. I am currently completing my college placement with Paralympics Ireland within the PARA project, which is associated with the newly founded PARA Athletics Academy, whereby I have had the opportunity to work with Para athletics athletes, specifically, in the realm of performance testing. I have also been allowed to research and explore new ideas yet to be studied in the area of youth Paralympic Athletes. I am also working with Prodigy Tennis and the Dublin Minor Hurling, and I have previous experience working with Hockey Ireland, Kilmacud Crokes GAA, and Wicklow GAA. I have a keen interest in developing youth athletes in order to help them excel at a higher level. I also have an interest in performance testing measures in elite sports, and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be exposed to the best performance testing equipment.
Research Project: The Role of Monitoring Questionnaires in Interpreting PARA Academy Athletes’ Performance Data
Why conduct a Monitoring Questionnaire?
While performance testing is the cornerstone for most talent development organisations, there is often very little context provided concerning the athletes’ internal state (e.g., well-being, fatigue levels, readiness) on testing days. Performance metrics alone do not capture the full picture of athlete preparation and readiness on a given testing day. However, a monitoring questionnaire provides the essential contextual information that helps practitioners gain a better understanding of an athlete’s performance outcomes by supplying important internal subjective data that can then be combined with external data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the athlete’s readiness and testing-day results.
The athletes of the Para Athletics Academy of Ireland, like most elite athletes, attend and perform regular testing days. Therefore, it is critical to account for internal factors that may influence performance, rather than relying only on the external data. Monitoring questionnaires allow practitioners to establish baselines for their athletes, which can then be compared across testing sessions. This can then help in assisting to identify meaningful changes in performance and readiness over time.
What is involved with a monitoring questionnaire?
- Mood state.
- Energy levels.
- Muscle soreness.
- Dietary information.
- Stress.
- Anxiety.
- Sleep. (hours of sleep, naps taken, and alertness after waking up)
These subjective measures can then be used in accordance with the objective raw data recorded (counter-movement jump (CMJ) height, isometric strength testing, sprint speed, etc.) and used to give the coaching staff a better view of the raw data results.
For example, if the CMJ height of an individual has radically decreased and the individual also happened to report low amounts of sleep and elevated fatigue, the practitioner can contextualise these results rather than assuming the individual has simply regressed in their performance testing results. Furthermore, if performance is improved but the questionnaire shows elevated soreness or sub-optimal recovery, the individual’s coaching staff may modify or delay any heavy training session plans for the following session to allow the individual to recover to full fitness.
How we have used Monitoring Questionnaires in the Para Athletics Academy
Monitoring questionnaires are particularly important within a pathway setting and within a Para athletic population due to the athletes’ unique demands. These include adaptive demands to new performance testing methods, classification-related stress, and impairment-specific recovery demands. Many of the Para Athletics Academy athletes travel significant distances in order to attend the testing days; therefore, monitoring is important to note if the travel is impairing the individual and their performance results. Para athletes are also more susceptible to increased early fatigue (Runciman et al., 2016) and having a higher metabolic cost (Weijer et al., 2024), which increases the importance of utilizing both a subjective and objective measure of recording data. The above reasons accentuate why it was key to implement this in the Para Athletics Academy.
Within the Para Athletics Academy testing days, measures such as CMJ and broad jumps are used in order to measure lower limb strength and explosivity due to the correlation between this and overall sprint performance (Washif and Kok, 2021). Some individuals report significant muscle soreness or lack of readiness, which can then negatively correlate to their recorded jump height. So rather than assuming there is an inexplicable drop off in the athlete’s performance, we can utilise the monitoring questionnaire to see how the athlete reported they felt before conducting the testing day.
The monitoring questionnaire within the Para Athletics Academy has been formulated by the amalgamation of multiple proven questionnaires, including, but not limited to:
- PHQ-4 – used to assess mental well-being.
- Brunel Mood Scale.
- Readiness to Train – encompasses many of the subjective measures important in a sports setting.
- Muscle Soreness Scale.
- Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
Coach-Athlete Communication and Decision-Making
It is also critical to consider the importance of the relationship between the coach and the Para athlete, as this is shown to potentially be more important than in non-Para environments (Rodríguez Macías, Giménez Fuentes-Guerra, and Abad Robles, 2022). The coach is shown to have a major influence on the athlete; therefore, it is key that the coach is informed of the subjective monitoring measurements in order to make informed and evidence-based decisions on their athlete, for example, monitoring, planning, and tracking the individual’s progress and training load.
Other studies have shown that a coach can act as a “low threshold system” in terms of communication between the athlete and themselves in locating early symptoms of mental health issues (Bentzen et al., 2022), of which monitoring questionnaires play a critical role in highlighting these areas of discussion.
Practical Tips for Monitoring Questionnaire Application
- Concise questions
- Use a simple and understandable rating scale
- Each question must be followed by an explanation of the importance of each question and how it relates to their performance
- Questions should be derived from previously published evidence-based questionnaires
Overall, a monitoring questionnaire is a critical subjective measuring tool that should be integrated alongside objective performance testing results in both non-Para and Para athletic settings. This is particularly important in Para athletics, where additional physical, psychological, and logistical stressors play an important role (Rodríguez Macías, Giménez Fuentes-Guerra, and Abad Robles, 2022). Monitoring questionnaires enhance the validity and interpretation of performance data, support individualised training prescription, improve coach–athlete communication, and aid in providing a continuous record of athlete well-being.
Within an academy environment, where athletes are exposed to complex physical demands, combining structured performance testing with robust subjective monitoring allows practitioners to develop a complete and personalised athlete development program, ultimately supporting long-term performance progression of athletes.
References
- Bentzen, M., Kenttä, G., Karls, T. and Fagher, K. (2022). Monitoring mental distress in Para athletes in preparation, during and after the Beijing Paralympic Games 2022: A 22-week prospective mixed-method study. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, [online] 4, p.945073. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.945073
- Rodríguez Macías, M., Giménez Fuentes-Guerra, F.J. and Abad Robles, M.T. (2022). The Sport Training Process of Para-Athletes: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), p.7242. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127242
- Runciman, P., Tucker, R., Ferreira, S., Albertus-Kajee, Y. and Derman, W. (2016). Effects of Induced Volitional Fatigue on Sprint and Jump Performance in Paralympic Athletes with Cerebral Palsy. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 95(4), pp.277–290. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/phm.0000000000000372
- Washif, J.A. and Kok, L.-Y. (2021). Relationships Between Vertical Jump Metrics and Sprint Performance, and Qualities that Distinguish Between Faster and Slower Sprinters. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 4(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-021-00122-4
- Weijer, V.C.R., Jonvik, K.L., Van Dam, L., Risvang, L., Plasqui, G., Sandbakk, Ø., Raastad, T., Van Loon, L.J.C. and Van Dijk, J.-W. (2024). Energy Requirements of Paralympic Athletes: Insights from the Doubly Labeled Water Approach. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, [online] 56(5), p.963. doi: https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003379
Author’s Bio:
My name is Samuel Langran, and I am in my final year of Health and Performance Science in UCD. I am happy to answer any questions through my LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/samuel-langran-64a800336.