Time–motion analysis of elite field hockey, with special reference to repeated-sprint activity

Abstract

Limited information exists about the movement patterns of field-hockey players, especially during elite competition. Time-motion analysis was used to document the movement patterns during an international field-hockey game. In addition, the movement patterns of repeated-sprint activity were investigated, as repeated-sprint ability is considered to be an important fitness component of team-sport performance. Fourteen members of the Australian men's field-hockey team (age 26+/-3 years, body mass 76.7+/-5.6 kg, VO2max 57.9+/-3.6 ml.kg(-1).min(-1); mean+/-s) were filmed during an international game and their movement patterns were analysed. The majority of the total player game time was spent in the low-intensity motions of walking, jogging and standing (46.5+/-8.1, 40.5+/-7.0 and 7.4+/-0.9%, respectively). In comparison, the proportions of time spent in striding and sprinting were 4.1+/-1.1 and 1.5+/-0.6%, respectively. Our criteria for 'repeated-sprint' activity (defined as a minimum of three sprints, with mean recovery duration between sprints of less than 21 s) was met on 17 occasions during the game (total for all players), with a mean 4+/-1 sprints per bout. On average, 95% of the recovery during the repeated-sprint bouts was of an active nature. In summary, the results suggest that the motion activities of an elite field-hockey competition are similar to those of elite soccer, rugby and Australian Rules football. In addition, the investigation of repeated-sprint activity during competition has provided additional information about the unique physiological demands of elite field-hockey performance.

Dietary nitrate supplementation improves sprint and high-intensity intermittent running performance

“…2014) and maximal voluntary power production (Coggan et al 2015) in the knee extensors, 4 and can increase maximal sprint cycling power output (Rimer et al 2015) and 180 m sprint running performance (Sandbakk et al, 2015). However, while these findings suggest that NO 3 -supplementation has the potential to improve sprinting performance, the effects of NO 3 -supplementation on sprint running performance over short distances that reflect those exhibited during team sports match-play (10-20 m; Spencer et al 2004;) have yet to be investigated.…”

“…The activity pattern during team sports, such as football, rugby and hockey, is characterised by short-duration bouts of high-intensity exercise interspersed with brief recovery periods (Spencer et al 2004). Since this pattern of high-intensity intermittent exercise is associated with significant type II muscle recruitment (Krustrup et al 2006) and, since NO 3 -supplementation can enhance physiological processes in type II muscle (Hernandez et al 2012;Ferguson et al 2013), NO 3 -supplementation has the potential to enhance team-sportspecific high-intensity intermittent exercise performance.…”

Time-motion analysis on Chinese male field hockey players

“…However, as the distance covered by players was not analyzed in neither of the above two studies, the moving velocity could not be calculated to define the intensity. They adapted the same intensity categories (standing, walking, jogging, striding and sprinting) that were defined by video (Spencer et al, 2004), which was not fully convinced. Gabbett (2010) compared the physiological demands of 14 elite Australian female field hockey players during 19 training and 32 league competitions using GPS technology.…”

“…However, this research is always criticized because the players' positions were only recorded every 15 s in the video. Spencer et al (2004) introduced the software Labview to analyze the video of an international field hockey match to document the players' movement patterns, with especial attention to the repeated-sprint activities. It was reported that standing, walking and jogging accounted for approximately 95% of the player's match time.…”

A influência de variáveis aeróbias e anaeróbias no teste de “sprints” repetidos

“…Such sports (e.g., soccer, rugby, tennis and others) require repeated sprint actions, that is, maximum or near-maximum e orts interspaced by short recovery times (< 60 seconds) [1][2][3][4][5] . Indeed, albeit the frequency/incidence of these actions are low 1, 5-7 , these brief periods are normally the decisive moments of the game.…”