Abstract
Objectives: To provide a detailed analysis of the repeated high-speed demands of competitive international female soccer match play. Methods: A total of 148 individual match observations were undertaken on 107 outfield players in competitive international matches, using a computerised tracking system (STATS, Leeds, England). High-speed activity was classified as either sprint activity (SA) (>25.1 km h-1) or high-speed running (HSR) (>19.8 km h-1). Repeated sprint activity (RSA) was defined as a minimum of two sprints with < 20 s recovery between sprints and repeated high-speed activity (RHSA) was defined as a minimum of two high-speed runs or sprints with < 20 s recovery between efforts. Results: HSR bouts occurred ~5 times more frequently than SA bouts. Central defenders (CD) completed ~50–80 fewer HSR bouts (moderate count ratio (CR): range 0.61–0.70) and ~10–20 fewer SA bouts (moderate CR: range 0.53–0.69) than all other playing positions. RSA bouts occurred less frequently than RHSA bouts (33 ± 10 vs. 1.1 ± 1.1).Conclusion: Consideration of both RHSA and RSA bouts is necessary to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the demands of female match play. Practitioners can utilise this information to construct position-specific training and testing programmes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 150-156 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Science and Medicine in Football |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Apr 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Football
- match analysis
- repeated high-speed running
- repeated sprint activity
- testing
- training
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management