How FFHG Uses Firstbeat Data to Guide Training on the Road to Milano Cortina

In this Firstbeat interview, players and staff from the French Ice Hockey Federation (FFHG) share how they integrate Firstbeat into their training program as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Laying the Groundwork for Smarter Training

The FFHG’s collaboration with Firstbeat first began in 2018 at the National Training Center, the Pôle France, where France’s top young female prospects train. Having previously used Firstbeat with the Magnus League team in Gap, Women’s National Team Manager Jean-Baptiste Chauvin recognized the value it could also bring to the Women’s National Team program.

He saw Firstbeat as an effective tool to follow the players’ training and use the data to adapt practices as needed. Jean-Baptiste recalls:

“When I took on the job at the Pôle France, one of my first thoughts was to get the Firstbeat tool to help us, the coaching staff. And then after that, I realized that it could also help us at the international level, so we introduced Firstbeat to the senior women’s team.

Six years later, we are still using it every day during camps and outside the camps, because now we can follow the players even when they’re playing in their clubs. So that’s a great tool for us.”

Empowering Athletes to Understand Their Own Data

For veteran player and national team captain Lore Baudrit, Firstbeat helps her to compare training vs. games, reflect on intensity against different opponents, and make more informed decisions about when to push and when to recover. On using the data, Lore says:

“I think with Firstbeat, I appreciate that now I know how to read my data, I know which numbers are good, and so I can see whether today was a good practice or not. I feel it, but I can also check how intense it was.

I know how to read the data when I receive my email, and I think that is good for me. Sometimes I feel like I may not have pushed myself enough, so it’s good to compare that with the data.

Also, depending on the opponents, the data can look different. For example, playing Germany, it’s high intensity all the time, so I can see that reflected in the data. I also like to compare the game and practice, and then decide if I need to push a little bit more based on the game intensity. I think that’s useful data.”

For Lore, recovery is also an important factor to consider in her role as team captain, balancing her national team responsibilities with family life and motherhood. She says:

“I plan everything all the time, including this recovery time to adjust, because even if you want to push, push, push, always training, sometimes the best thing is to have a day off. With time and experience, I have realized that training is not always better. Sometimes it’s good to take one day to say, ‘Okay, now I’m so tired I need to take this day off’. And you wake up the day after, and you feel much better than if you had carried on training.”

Using Firstbeat with the Next Generation

For player Anaïs Peyne-Dingival, Firstbeat has also become part of her routine, even though she hadn’t used it at the club level before joining the National Training Center. With guidance from the coaching staff, integration was fast. Anaïs says:

“Luc (strength coach) explained everything. After that, it became very easy to understand the data. I think it’s important to see how much we were in the red zone and other zones, and how hard we push during training or in games.”

Taking an Individualized Approach

For Strength Coach Luc Delmas, training for the Olympic Winter Games is not about changing philosophies for every competition, doing more training, or working more intensely, but taking an individualized approach for each athlete.

France’s players compete across different clubs around the world, so their workloads and daily demands vary. To manage this, Luc monitors every athlete closely, combining daily wellness questionnaires with Firstbeat internal load data to create a full picture of their load and recovery.

Strong, ongoing communication between staff and players is what brings this individualized approach to life. When an athlete is injured, for example, the staff use her historical Firstbeat data to replicate on-ice intensities off the ice to match the physiological load. This helps players return to play faster, safer, and more prepared for the demands of competition.

Because data is collected both in national camps and remotely at the club level, the team can:

• Adjust individual workloads across national training camps and club environments
• Prescribe equivalent physiological loads when athletes are off-ice or returning from injury
• Support real-time regular communication and check-ins between players and staff

As France prepares to compete on the world’s biggest stage, their advantage is a long-built foundation of individualized insight, continuous communication, and data-informed decisions.