Beyond each other, Georgia Tech and Boston College will have to contend with the effects of jet lag Saturday in their season opener.
The Eagles arrived in Dublin Wednesday morning, a day before Tech landed. Coach Steve Addazio said that “we did the research” on jet lag and its effects before making travel plans.
Aaron Lee, a Chicago physician who co-wrote a paper about the impact of jet lag on athletes, said that Boston College should have an advantage in having an extra day to adjust.
However, “I don’t know if it’d be appreciable,” he said.
According to Lee, jet-lag symptoms usually last for one day per time zone crossed, meaning that both teams will still be jet lagged when the game kicks off at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday. He said the more pronounced difference between players may be those who are morning types vs. those who are more alert in the evening.
Tech coach Paul Johnson has familiarity with crossing time zones to play. He was an offensive coordinator for Hawaii 1987-94. Hawaii’stime zone is three hours behind the West Coast during daylight savings time, two hours during standard time. Johnson said the strategy was to never leave Hawaii time. Given the team’s three-day stay in Dublin, he acknowledged that wouldn’t be possible.
The team left Atlanta Wednesday night, arrived in Dublin early Thursday morning and tried to stay awake (some unsuccessfully) in order to get a good night’s rest Thursday night. The Jackets worked out mid-day Thursday. Johnson chose to leave Wednesday in order to gain an extra practice on campus.
Tech’s post-arrival strategy was wise, Lee said. He also recommended avoiding naps during the day that would “anchor” players to East Coast time.
“The best thing for re-setting people’s clock is bright lights,” he said. “If they get outside when they get there, that will help their body get on local time.”
He also said he thought Tech’s routine of scrimmaging on Saturday mornings would help in preparing the body to play at an early hour.
“That’s actually a pretty good strategy,” he said.
Rather than players, though, Lee suggested that the jet lag might be felt more with coaches.
In general, he said, “people who are traveling east over multiple time zones, in the first couple days, have a little bit more trouble with higher-order thinking or complex tasks,” he said.
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