Ruby Otter-Drost

Ruby Otter-Drost is a Lecturer-researcher in Sports Science at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, specializing in Sports Education & Youth Sports. She is affiliated with the Healthy Lifestyle, Sports and Physical Activity Centre of Expertise Healthy Ageing, where her research focuses on the intersection of sports performance, stress management, and healthy lifestyle interventions.

Her primary research interests revolve around training load monitoring, psychosocial stress in athletes, perceived recovery mechanisms, and coaching science. Dr. Otter-Drost's work particularly examines how stress and recovery dynamics impact endurance performance, with significant focus on speed skating as a model sport. Her research integrates data-driven approaches to understand the complex relationship between internal and external training loads.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward practical applications of sports science research, with emphasis on cooperative design of coaching tools, specificity of training methods, and citizen science approaches to student well-being. Her work bridges theoretical sports science with practical implementation in athletic training environments.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Best paper award (23 Mar 2018) with colleagues Dijkhuis, T., Velthuijsen, H., and Lemmink, K.

Dr. Otter-Drost serves as a peer reviewer for prestigious journals including the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, and The American Journal of Sports Medicine. Her collaborative research projects include 'Belasting en belastbaarheid van (top)sporters' (2018), 'Coach in Control' (2020-2022), and 'Trainingsbelasting van schaatsers' (2018-2019), demonstrating strong industry-academia partnerships focused on practical sports performance solutions.

Her research group employs a multi-disciplinary approach combining sports physiology, psychology, and technology to develop innovative monitoring systems and coaching interventions, with particular emphasis on the speed skating community and youth sports development.