An Analysis of Acceleration, Deceleration and High-Intensity Skating during Elite Bandy Match-Play: A Case Study.

Malin Johansson,Per-Erik Ervasti,Sven Blomqvist

doi:10.3390/sports9110152

Abstract

Profiles of physical workload in sports are useful to optimize performance and reduce the risk of injury. The aim of the study was to investigate physical workload in 10 elite bandy players by describing acceleration, deceleration, and high-intensity skating during bandy match-play. During 13 home matches, 10 male elite bandy players wore a GPS unit to measure changes in the total distance, total distance skating in two speed zones, and total distance of acceleration and deceleration. A within-subject design was used to measure changes over time during match-play by comparing first and second halves as well as comparisons for consecutive 15 min intervals. No significant differences were observed for high-intensity or very high-intensity acceleration and deceleration for comparisons by halves or for 15-min intervals. For comparisons by halves, a significant time-dependent effect was observed on very fast skating (1337.6 m vs. 1160.9 m), sprint skating (300.0 m vs. 272.0 m), low-intensity acceleration (342.7 m vs. 333.0 m), and total distance covered (10,916.9 m vs. 10,450.3 m). These variables, along with low-intensity deceleration, were also significant for the 15 min interval comparisons. The results show that there is no time-dependent reduction in high-intensity acceleration and deceleration in elite bandy match-play. However, elite bandy players do not maintain the distance of high-intensity skating throughout a whole match.

Highlights

Profiles of the physical workload in different sports are useful for coaches to optimize performance on both the team and individual levels
The analysis showed that there was a significant decrease between the first and second half for total distance covered with 4.5%, very fast skating with 13%, sprint skating with
There was no significant difference for off ice time between the first and second half, but the large standard deviation was due to the exchanges being unevenly distributed between the players

Summary

Introduction

Profiles of the physical workload in different sports are useful for coaches to optimize performance on both the team and individual levels. Previous studies have investigated the physical workload during elite bandy by measuring heart rate and velocity patterns during match-play [1,2]. Blomqvist et al [1] observed that elite bandy players reach a heart rate between 70–90%. Of their maximum and spend up to 27% of the time above the lactate threshold during match-play depending on the player’s position. Persson et al [2] observed significant differences in the velocity patterns between defensive and offensive players, where defensive players spend significantly longer time skating between 4–20 km/h and the offensive players above 20 km/h. Previous studies investigating the physical workload in bandy illustrate that bandy includes skating in velocities covering both aerobic and anaerobic intensities [1,2].

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