Physiologisches Anforderungsprofil Squash : Belastung, Beanspruchung, Energiebereitstellung und körperliche Leistungsfähigkeit im Herreneinzel in Abhängigkeit von Spielniveau und Sieg und Niederlage

Despite its worldwide increasing popularity squash has not been given much attention regarding scientific research until now, so that it predominantly lacks a physiological requirement profile and key performance indictors. Thus, questions concerning the made of energy supply during match and possible (inter-)dependencies of these with regards to the level of play or the result of a match remain unanswered. Furthermore does the validity of the most recent findings on stress and physiological performance of squash seem rather dispectable. Thus is why it is currently still difficult to create evidence-based pratice guidelines which seek to increase a player’s performance systematically in terms of a physiological level. So the aim of this study was to describe the stress, strain and energy supply in squash depending on the level of play and victory and defeat, to identify relationships, changes in the course of the game and dividing variables and to determine physiological characteristics of successful squash players at national and regional level. The results update the existing data on stress and strain and extend the previous research to a detailed energetic profile with insight into various activities and changes in the gameplay. They still indicate a high metabolic rate in squash, although the demands have changed over the last decade. Against expectations and despite the repetitive burst of high effort as well as average high intensity aerobic metabolism proved to be the predominant source of energy supplemented by anaerobic sources, mainly by high-energy phosphates at any level. Further should be stated that while physiological demands and energy costs differ between various levels of squash, a significant difference in energy contribution could not be observed, which emphasizes once more the high importance of aerobic endurance. With the exception of a large number of defeated errors in losing no significant differences between winners and loosers could be observed. Moreover, squash players should maintain or strive for a good to top level of flexibility, capacity of reaction and (general) coordination plus an excellent level of squash-specific movement agility. The test battery allows us to discriminate between national and county players and the results can be used to make recommendations regarding the required level of performance at national level. Generally can be concluded that all findings, especially those of the energy demands and the key performance indicators of squash players, may potentially function as a guideline for optimized training programs in order to reach better results.