REVIEW article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Science, Technology and Engineering
This article is part of the Research TopicEmerging technologies in sports performance: data acquisition and analysisView all 18 articles
PlayerLoad™ and Accelerometer-Based Metrics: Scientific Evaluation and Implications for Athlete Monitoring
Provisionally accepted
- 1Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden
- 2Universidade Federal do Triangulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Brazil
- 3University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- 4La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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PlayerLoad™ is the most widely used accelerometer-derived metric for quantifying external demands in sport. Its normalized variant, PlayerLoad·min⁻¹, is also commonly used as a marker of exercise intensity. However, recent literature has raised concerns regarding its scientific foundation, including inconsistent definitions, arbitrary units, opaque filtering methods, questionable theoretical underpinnings, and imprecise mechanical terminology. The construct validity of PlayerLoad™ remains unverified, and emerging evidence suggests weak dose–response relationships with performance outcomes. Although widely adopted in practice, these concerns warrant critical scientific scrutiny. This review critically evaluates the validity and reliability of the PlayerLoad™ metric, highlighting the need for greater transparency and theoretical rigor in wearable athlete monitoring. Furthermore, we present alternative accelerometer-derived metrics, developed from clearer biomechanical and physiological principles, which may offer more robust and interpretable measures for researchers and practitioners.
Keywords: Accel'Rate, IMU, Mechanical variables, Misuse, training monitoring
Received: 22 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Staunton, Edholm, Ide, Ditroilo and Wundersitz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Craig Staunton
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.