Field-based pre-cooling for on-court tennis conditioning training in the heat

The present study investigated the effects of pre-cooling for oncourt,tennis-specific conditioning training in the heat. eight highly-trained tennis players performed two on-court conditioning sessions in 35oc,55% relative humidity. sessions were randomised,involved either a pre-cooling or control session,and consisted of 30-min of court-based,tennis movement drills. pre-cooling involved 20-min of an ice-vest and cold towels to the head/neck and legs,followed by warm-up in a cold compression garment. on-court movement distance was recorded by 1hz global positioning satellite (gps) devices,while core temperature,heart rate and perceptual exertion and thermal stress were also recorded throughout the session. additionally,mass and lower-body peak power during repeated countermovement jumps were measured before and after each session. no significant performance differences were evident between conditions,although a moderate-large effect (d = 0.7-1.0; p > 0.05) was evident for total (2989 ± 256 v 2870 ± 159m) and high-intensity (805 ± 340 v 629 ± 265m) distance covered following pre-cooling. further,no significant differences were evident between conditions for rise in core temperature (1.9 ± 0.4 v 2.2 ± 0.4°oc; d > 0.9; p > 0.05),although a significantly smaller change in mass (0.9 ± 0.3 v 1.3 ± 0.3kg; p < 0.05) was present following pre-cooling. perceived thermal stress and exertion were significantly lower (d > 1.0; p < 0.05) during the cooling session. finally,lower-body peak power did not differ between conditions before or after training (d < 0.3; p > 0.05). conclusions: despite trends for lowered physiological load and increased distances covered following cooling,the observed responses were not significantly different or as explicit as previously reported laboratory-based pre-cooling research. © journal of sports science and medicine.