Comparative Analysis of Physical and Mental Workload in Amateur Volleyball Teams With and Without a Libero Player

Abstract

The Libero is a key defensive player for receiving serves and defending attacks, which can have an important impact on the players' movement and mental load during a match. The purpose of this study was to compare the physical and mental workload of playing with and without the Libero in an amateur volleyball team. A randomized crossover design of 12 male amateur university students with a mean age of 19.17 ± 1.11 years were used to study the effects of the Libero, the match was simulated in 4 conditions: Team A With a Libero vs. Team B Without a Libero, Team A Without a Libero vs. Team B With a Libero, both teams with a Libero, and both teams without a Libero. The results indicated that AvrHR and PHR of the Libero team were both lower than the non-Libero team (P < 0.05), as well as sRPE of the Libero team being lower than the non-Libero team, and NASA-TLX for the Libero team being lower than the non-Libero team (P < 0.05). Both CMJ teams showed reduced jump height after the competition, with no significant difference between teams with or without a Libero. While the Libero helped manage physical and mental workload, they did not affect jump performance.