Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2011 Sep;6(3):367-79. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.6.3.367.
Australian football (AF) is a highly intermittent sport, requiring athletes to accelerate hundreds of times with repeated bouts of high-intensity running (HIR). Players aim to be in peak physical condition for finals, with anecdotal evidence of increased speed and pressure of these games.
However, no data exists on the running demands of finals games, and therefore the aim of this study was to compare the running demands of finals to regular season games with matched players and opponents.
Player movement was recorded by GPS at 5 Hz and expressed per period of the match (rotation), for total distance, high-intensity running (HIR, 4.17-10.00 m·s-1) and maximal accelerations (2.78-10.00 m·s-2). All data was compared for regular season and finals games and the magnitude of effects was analyzed with the effect size (ES) statistic and expressed with confidence intervals.
Each of the total distance (11%; ES: 0.78 ± 0.30), high-intensity running distance (9%; ES: 0.29 ± 0.25) and number of maximal accelerations (97%; ES: 1.30 ± 0.20) increased in finals games. The largest percentage increases in maximal accelerations occurred from a commencement velocity of between 3-4 (47%; ES: 0.56 ± 0.21) and 4-5 m·s-1 (51%; ES: 0.72 ± 0.26), and with <19 s between accelerations (53%; ES: 0.63 ± 0.27).
Elite AF players nearly double the number of maximal accelerations in finals compared with regular season games. This large increase is superimposed on requirements to cover a greater total distance and spend more time at high velocity during finals games. Players can be effectively conditioned to cope with these increased demands, even during a long competitive season.
澳大利亚足球（AF）是一项高度间歇性的运动，要求运动员在多次高强度跑动（HIR）中数百次加速。球员的目标是在决赛中达到最佳身体状态，有传闻称这些比赛的速度和压力都有所增加。
然而，目前还没有关于决赛比赛跑动需求的数据，因此本研究的目的是比较决赛和常规赛中具有匹配球员和对手的比赛的跑动需求。
球员的运动通过 GPS 以 5 Hz 的频率记录，并以比赛的每一个阶段（轮换）来表示，包括总距离、高强度跑动（4.17-10.00 m·s-1）和最大加速度（2.78-10.00 m·s-2）。比较常规赛和决赛比赛的所有数据，并使用效应量（ES）统计分析效应大小，并以置信区间表示。
决赛比赛中，总距离（增加 11%；ES：0.78 ± 0.30）、高强度跑动距离（增加 9%；ES：0.29 ± 0.25）和最大加速度次数（增加 97%；ES：1.30 ± 0.20）均增加。最大加速度的百分比增加最大发生在起始速度为 3-4 m·s-1（增加 47%；ES：0.56 ± 0.21）和 4-5 m·s-1（增加 51%；ES：0.72 ± 0.26）之间，且两次加速度之间的时间间隔小于 19 s（增加 53%；ES：0.63 ± 0.27）。
与常规赛相比，精英澳大利亚足球运动员在决赛中最大加速度的次数几乎增加了一倍。这种大幅度的增加叠加在决赛比赛中需要覆盖更大的总距离和花费更多的时间以高速跑动的要求上。即使在漫长的赛季中，球员也可以有效地进行训练以应对这些增加的需求。
