Effects of quality of opposition and match status on technical and tactical performances in elite volleyball

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of quality of opposition and match status on technical and tactical volleyball performances, as measured by block, attack, serve, and set actions related to the tasks, space, players, and efficacy of selected game actions. Twenty-five matches from the men's World Cup 2007 were notated and through cluster analysis were classified as "high" (HIGH), "intermediate" (INT) or "low" (LOW) quality. The difference between points scored and points allowed was used to define match status. Multinomial logistic regression identified an association of match status with: set direction (likelihood ratio test [LRT] = 15.5, P = 0.017) and block typology (LRT = 9.6, P = 0.047) in HIGH vs. HIGH matches; attack player (LRT = 17.4, P = 0.026) and block typology (LRT = 9.2, P = 0.010) in LOW vs. LOW matches; and serve type (LRT = 17.4, P = 0.002), block strategy (LRT = 53.7, P <0.001), and serve efficacy (LRT = 26.0, P = 0.001) in HIGH vs. LOW matches. Results suggest that volleyball teams took more risky decisions in unbalanced situations. They also carried less risk through technical and tactical decisions in balanced and moderate situations whether they had the advantage or not. Therefore, strategic behaviour was affected by the interaction of quality of opposition and match status, providing a better understanding of volleyball game performance and new insights for practice, competition, and research.

Ball possession effectiveness in men's and women's elite basketball according to situational variables in different game periods

“…Binary logistic regression was used to estimate regression weights and odds ratios of the relation between performance indicators and covariates according to ball possession effectiveness (Bar-Eli, Tenenbaum, & Geister, 2006;Marcelino et al, 2011). In this nonlinear model of regression, the estimated regression coefficients represent the estimated change in the logodds, corresponding to a unit change in the corresponding explanatory variable conditional on the other explanatory variables remaining constant (Landau & Everitt, 2004).…”

“…Match status was obtained using the accumulative differences between points scored and allowed in each ball possession and then converted into a categorical variable using a two-step cluster analysis (Marcelino et al, 2011;Sampaio, Lago, & Drinkwater, 2010). Five clusters were identified and categorised as "high disadvantage" (differences between -10 and -7 points), "moderate disadvantage" (differences between -6 and -3 points), "balanced" (differences between -2 and 2 points), "moderate advantage" (differences between 3 and 7 points) and "high advantage" (differences between 7 and 13 points).…”

“…In the last few years, several studies examined the effects of situational variables such as game location, match status and quality of the opponent on performance indicators (Gómez & Pollard, 2011;Lago, 2009;Lago & Martín, 2007;Marcelino, Mesquita, & Sampaio, 2011;Sampaio, Lago, & Drinkwater, 2010;Sampaio, Lago, Casais, et al, 2010;Taylor, Mellalieu, James, & Shearer, 2008;Tucker, Mellalieu, James, & Taylor, 2005). In basketball, other situational variables such as the stage of the league may highlight the differences between regular season and playoff games.…”

Voleibol masculino de alto nível: Análise contextual do jogo praticado pelo atacante de zona 4 na Superliga Brasileira de 2014/ 2015

“…Observou-se que não houve a utilização de ataques de 1º tempo e que os pontos obtidos após este tipo de receção foram reduzidos. A literatura nesta área mostra que há associação dos ataques mais rápidos com o ponto de ataque e do jogo mais lento com a continuidade do jogo e o erro do ataque (6,10,11,13,34) . (28) , sendo que receções de baixa qualidade dificultam a distribuição do levantador e se correlacionam com o erro do ataque (44) .…”

“…As pesquisas em voleibol buscaram a compreensão do jogo em função do resultado final da partida (7,49) , da classificação da equipa no final da competição (32,34) e do tipo de jogo praticado (18,19) , mostrando que níveis elevados de desempenho no saque (7) , ataque (46) e bloqueio (32) podem prever o sucesso na partida. Dentre os fundamentos, a literatura vem evidenciando o ataque como a ação que mais influencia na conquista dos pontos e no resultado final da partida (13,33,46) , sendo necessário que a construção ofensiva, quando há condições ideais de distribuições, ocorra com quatro atacantes (15) .…”