Running Demands and Activity Profile of the New Four-Quarter Match Format in Men's Field Hockey

• Published in: Journal of strength and conditioning research 2021-02, Vol.35 (2), p.512-518
• Main Authors: Ihsan, Mohammed, Yeo, Vincent, Tan, Frankie, Joseph, Ranald, Lee, Marcus, Aziz, Abdul Rashid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Athletic Performance; Geographic Information Systems; Hockey; Humans; Light; Male
• ISSN: 1064-8011; 1533-4287
• DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002699

ABSTRACTIhsan, M, Yeo, V, Tan, F, Joseph, R, Lee, M, and Aziz, AR. Running demands and activity profile of the new four-quarter match format in menʼs field hockey. J Strength Cond Res XX(X)000–000, 2018—This study determined the running demands of menʼs field hockey with regards to the revised four-quarter match format. Twenty-eight male field hockey players were equipped with global positioning system units while competing in 14 competitive international games over a 1-year period. All matches allowed for unlimited substitutions, and consisted of four 15-minute quarters (i.e., Q1—Q4). A progressive decline in total distance (TD) was observed in Q2 (2,072 ± 141 m) to Q4 (2,055 ± 212 m) compared with Q1 (2,171 ± 195 m, p < 0.05). However, the decline in TD was due to decreases in low-intensity activity (15 km·h) distances were similar throughout Q1—Q4 (p = 0.263). Positional data demonstrated a similar profile, where significant decreases in TD, but not in HIR, was observed across all playing positions at some point over the 4 quarters (p < 0.05). DEF accumulated the lowest amount of TD (7,631 ± 753 m), HIR (2,257 ± 498 m), and high-intensity decelerations (60 ± 9, >−2m·s) compared with MID and FWD (p < 0.05). By contrast, FWD performed the highest amount of HIR (3,090 ± 565 m) and high-intensity accelerations (110 ± 9, >2 m·s) compared with MID and DEF (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our results showed that although there was a progressive decline in TD over the 4 quarters of match play, high-intensity running performance (i.e., HIR and high-intensity acceleration) was maintained throughout the match regardless of playing position.