A Comparison of Peak Intensity Periods across Male Field Hockey Competitive Standards.

Catherine Blake,Eoin Cunniffe,Eamonn Delahunt,Colin Boreham,Ulrik Mccarthy Persson,Adam Grainger,Walter Mcconnell

doi:10.3390/sports9050058

Catherine Blake, Eoin Cunniffe + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9050058

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Abstract

This investigation aimed to compare the international level peak intensity period of male field hockey players to those experienced during professional and amateur club hockey match play. Twenty-seven players from an international squad were monitored for all activity relating to field hockey over three seasons. The peak intensity period, of 3 min duration, was extracted from match play files for international and club matches. Club matches were categorised by league standard—professional vs. amateur. The output for the peak intensity period, within positions, was compared using linear mixed models (LMMs) and post hoc pairwise comparisons. Significance levels were set as p < 0.05 and Cohen’s d was utilised for effect sizes. Competition level had a main effect on relative total distance (p < 0.05) and significant interaction effects were found between competition level and position (p < 0.05). Midfielders competing in amateur leagues and international match play completed less relative total distance than those who compete in professional leagues (−47.88 m/min, p < 0.05), (−46.06 m/min, p < 0.05) with large effect sizes reported. No other position displayed significant differences for peak periods. Match play in professional leagues provide opportunities for midfielders to experience peak intensity periods of a greater magnitude than international match play.

Highlights

Field hockey is a dynamic intermittent team sport that imposes unpredictable demands on players through a mix of aerobic and anaerobic efforts
Four hundred and forty individual peak intensity periods were analysed for the 27 players, with an average of 16 ± 10 periods per individual
The main finding was that interaction effects between position and competition indicate that midfielders are mostly affected by competition level, with a greater peak relative total distance (RTD) experienced in professional leagues compared to both amateur and international level

Summary

Introduction

Field hockey is a dynamic intermittent team sport that imposes unpredictable demands on players through a mix of aerobic and anaerobic efforts. This invasion sport is characterised by frequent short bursts of high-speed activities. The overall volume of physical output for metrics such as accelerations, total distance and high-speed running, during match play is lower for field hockey than other sports, due to match duration and rotational strategies [1,2]. As field hockey has unlimited substitutions, short periods of high-intensity activity occur frequently across a match, which interacts with the physical and technical output of the players [3]. The majority of field hockey research has focused on reporting full match averages from tournaments or splitting match data into halves or quarters [4]

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