The winter break in the Bundesliga is intended to help the players regenerate. But sports scientists and coaches criticize the given time frame: Other top European leagues would do it better.
77 days – that’s how long the record winter break lasted in the 1988/89 Bundesliga season. This winter, the clubs were given a much shorter break by the German Football League (DFL). 24 days will be a Bundesliga club 1. FC Union Berlin Given time to prepare for the return series including the mission of staying in the league. Hertha BSC is given at least 36 days because the second league has a longer break.
But how useful is a winter break, especially if it is constantly being shortened? What effects does it have on the physical and mental regeneration of the players and what is the optimum recommendation for sports scientists and athletic trainers? How do other top European leagues do it?
“People enjoy coming to Hertha’s stadium again”
Hertha BSC has had an up-and-down second division season with great successes and disappointing defeats. Coach Pal Dardai still sees his team on target and does not believe that the squad will change over the winter break.more
Framework appointment calendar defines winter break
The game-free period around the turn of the year is defined by the so-called framework calendar. This is approved by the Presidium of the German Football Association (DFB) and the DFL. “The basis (…) at the national level are the international match dates specified by FIFA and UEFA, including for World and European Championships as well as international matches with the associated release periods for national players and for European club competitions,” writes the DFL on its website.
Based on these game dates and shutdown periods, the start, break and end of a season are determined. In a season with an international championship, the winter break is traditionally shorter. The 2024 European Championship is already looming and is the main reason for this year’s shortened winter break in the Bundesliga.
Two reasons for the winter break
The first reason for the introduction of the game-free period in the early 1980s was initially due to the weather. Cold weather and snowfall caused a flood of game cancellations in the winter of 1978. 46 games in the Bundesliga were canceled. The clubs had to take an unscheduled four-week break. It took until the penultimate matchday before the table could be straightened out again.
Such conditions would be unthinkable today. Since the 2008/2009 season, every stadium in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga must be equipped with pitch heating. Milder temperatures in the cold season are another factor, which is why games are canceled less often – even when there is extreme snowfall, as was the case recently Match between Bayern and Union at the beginning of December, games may still be canceled due to weather conditions; But they have become the absolute exception.
A second, and from today’s perspective, much more important reason for the break: the regeneration of the players. The interruption of gaming operations is intended to reduce the burden on the professionals. Body and mind should recover so that they can be ready for peak performance again after the break. But does this assumption stand up to modern sports science knowledge? And how long should the break ideally last?
Rhythm is lost, little time to build up resources
“I think the winter break as we have it is fundamentally unnecessary,” says Ingo Froböse, emeritus professor of prevention and rehabilitation at the German Sport University Cologne, in an interview with rbb24. “This means that the players find themselves in a break within the season that, on the one hand, is not long enough to build up new resources, but on the other hand is too long to maintain the given performance,” says Froböse.
The athletic trainer of 1. FC Union Berlin’s Bundesliga team, Martin Krüger, also criticizes this “break” in the middle of the season: “The way the break is now, I would see it as counterproductive. You don’t stay in the rhythm, but you also have “There’s not enough time to travel to training camp for a week. You just have time to maintain the current situation.”
During the season, the players enter a break that is not long enough to build up new resources, but is also too long to maintain the given performance.
The importance of mental recovery
Union’s athletic trainer is not fundamentally against a winter break, especially because the players need to recover mentally. “The psyche is much more important because it needs more time to regenerate. It’s about reducing stress hormones, because in the end the psyche also regulates the physical body. You have to take a break, and in the summer this is hardly possible because of the tournaments possible,” says Krüger.
The findings of modern sports science coincide with Krüger’s views. If athletes have a tired mind, then they will not have optimal quality of movement. Speed and liveliness suffer as a result. “The cognitive recovery phase is particularly important during the winter break, but the break shouldn’t be too long,” explains Ingo Froböse, “because then you get into a hole. The players need freshness. This is the basis for them to be able to perform .”
“Don’t have the ambition to win all the next games”
What psychological effect do coaching changes have – and what can Union Berlin hope for from Nenad Bjelica? Sports psychologist René Paasch on the “honeymoon effect”, negative vortex and the new coach’s lack of Bundesliga experience.more
Increased Susceptibility to injury in training
In addition to mental health, the length of the winter break also has an effect on the players’ physical susceptibility to injury. A study that examined the shortened winter break in the 2009/2010 Bundesliga season came to the conclusion that the number of knee injuries during training had increased significantly. A higher risk of injury was particularly evident in January during the first training sessions after the break. An indication that the shorter recovery period was not sufficient for some players to fully regenerate and that it was more difficult for them to return to play.
There are clear warning signs that a winter break lasting around three weeks will only cause new problems instead of helping players regenerate. This would require a longer break in order to be able to prepare continuously and compensate for the loss of sporting rhythm.
Ingo Froböse has been criticizing for years that the DFB and DFL are not acting in the interests of the players. Too many mistakes are made when planning the calendar. “Here you should take a look at the island, they’ll show us how it’s done,” says the sports scientist, referring to the Premier League. He suggests a longer break for the summer so that players who are traveling internationally can have more regeneration time. The DFB has so far left an inquiry from rbb24 about possible changes to its schedule unanswered.
Winter training camp: sun yes, heat no!
A five-week winter break like the one Hertha BSC has available this season at least gives those responsible more room for maneuver. The “old lady” will not start playing in the second division again until January 21st. That’s why the blue-whites can also complete a one-week training camp in Alicante, Spain. However, when asked by rbb24, the club did not want to comment on how to evaluate the current winter break regulations.
In this context, the question arises as to how sensible it is to train in warmer areas when the first games at home take place in winter conditions. “I don’t see that as a tragedy at all,” says Ingo Froböse: Healthy immune systems usually cope well with temperature changes, “especially if there is enough time between the training camp and the start of the game.” And as everyone knows from their own holiday experience, soaking up a little sun is very good for your mood and for relaxation.
However, physical training should be avoided in hot weather. Bayern’s training camp in Qatar, including the time difference, was much more problematic, says Froböse. As early as 2004, the Federal Institute for Sports Science found in a study that hot conditions have a significant performance-reducing effect due to the increase in body temperature. Motor activities decrease and concentration and coordination could be impaired.
Europe’s top leagues are taking different paths
In England, Spain and Italy, sunny winter training camps are only known by hearsay. The breaks around the turn of the year are too short in the top leagues there. The Premier League is completely crazy. There is only one weekend at the end of January without games, which gives the professionals a seven to ten day break. The Spanish Primera Division only pauses on the weekend before and after Christmas; regular operations will resume on January 2nd.
The Italian Serie A is even doing without a winter break this season, although it must also be taken into account that all three leagues mentioned play with 20 teams, in contrast to the Bundesliga (18). That means you almost have to play through it in order to finish it by summer.
What makes sense for the Bundesliga?
From the perspective of sports scientist Froböse, the other European leagues are doing a little better when it comes to organizing their winter breaks. “Take a week’s break between the holidays so that the players can cool down cognitively. And then start again on January 2nd. That would make the most sense for the Bundesliga,” he says.
The advantages: You would have a significantly greater schedule in your schedule, and possibly even more breaks in the summer. This could be done by minimizing the number of English weeks during the season. From a training perspective, longer regeneration between games is much more valuable than an extended Christmas vacation.
Broadcast: rbb24|Inforadio, December 21, 2023, 1:15 p.m
