ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 December;60(12):1520-5

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.11097-1

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Quantification of external load of elite rink hockey players in official matches

Daniel FERNÁNDEZ ¹ ✉, Francisco VARO ², Gerard CARMONA ^{1, 2, 3}, Xavier RECHE ¹

¹ Sports Performance Area, Department of Sport Science, Futbol Club Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; ² National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; ³ School of Health Sciences, Tecnocampus, Pompeu Fabra University, Mataró, Spain

BACKGROUND: The demands of elite rink hockey competition are unknown to coaches, although nowadays the explosion of tracking technology makes it possible to fill this research gap. The aims of this study were twofold: firstly, to describe the external load demands involved in a rink hockey match and secondly, to ascertain whether there were differences between exterior (EX) and interior or forward (IN) player positions.
METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted between 2017 and 2018 competitive season. Eight professional players (6 EX and 2 IN) participated voluntarily in the study during 9 official matches. Data logging was performed with a local positioning system and the variables studied were distance covered (DT), distance covered above 18 km/h (HSS), player load (PL), number of high-intensity accelerations (ACC) and number of high-intensity decelerations (DEC).
RESULTS: The average values per player were 4646±1135 m of DT for EX and 4919±1374 for IN, 897±252 m of HSS for EX and 981±313 for IN (mean ±SD); 173±69 and 167.5±57.5 ACC for EX and IN, respectively, and 164±56 and 152.5±42 DEC for EX and IN, respectively (median±IQR); and there were no significant differences (P>0.05), between positions.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study allow us to ascertain the external load in matches and that EX and IN did not present different physical demands. With this information, coaches can adjust training loads more accurately.

KEY WORDS: Hockey; Athletic performance; Athletes