Internal and External Load Monitoring Tools Used in Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic Football and Ladies Gaelic Football: A Systematic Review

There is a growing interest and volume of research conducted in Gaelic games. To date, vast amounts of research have been conducted investigating the physical demands of the games and the physical profiling of players. Furthermore, there have been investigations into the nutritional requirements of players as well as the exploration of various monitoring tools. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to identify the internal and external monitoring tools that have been used in Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic football and Ladies Gaelic football.

Using the PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive review of electronic databases was performed using SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Scopus and Medline.

Twelve studies were included in the final analysis with a total sample size of 442 participants. It was found that training load monitoring (RPE × Duration) was the most common method used to monitor internal load, with ten studies including this method. The least common method of assessing internal training load concerned methods that assessed heart responses, such as heart rate variability (HRV). The most common method used to monitor external load was using GPS with ten studies using this method. Only two studies used jump performance to assess the effects of external load. A major finding of this review was that all studies included were male participants.

This systematic review highlights the various methods used to monitor players in Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic football and Ladies Gaelic football. As 10 of the 12 included studies utilised GPS units, these players are provided access to performance analysis methodologies that have the potential to support the ongoing progression of sporting performance. However, all studies that were included in this review had male participants. This is concerning as there are no published data on female players which would indicate that research into male players is applied to female players. Given the known physiological differences that exist between both, future research is needed to specifically conduct such research with female playing cohorts.