Deceleration characteristics of elite Australian male field hockey players during an Olympic tournament.

OBJECTIVES

This study described the deceleration efforts of the Australian men's field hockey team during the 2016 Olympics by categorising efforts into 'bands' of intensity; and comparing the deceleration intensity and frequency by player position, game period and opponent.

DESIGN

Descriptive retrospective analysis.

METHODS

Global positioning system sensors (MinimaxX S4, Catapult Sports Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia; 10Hz) were worn by 15 male field hockey players during six games of the 2016 Olympic tournament.

RESULTS

There were 8998 individual deceleration efforts (≤-3ms) performed over the tournament with the most intense effort measured at -13.6ms. Deceleration intensity 'bands' were calculated using Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves as low intensity=-3 to -5.99ms; medium intensity=-6 to -8.99ms; high intensity=-9 to -11.99ms; and, very high intensity=<-12ms. There were no significantly different decelerations between field positions but decelerations performed within game period one were more intense than game period two (-0.11±0.01ms, p<0.001). Deceleration efforts were more frequent in game period one than two [X(3, N=8997)=12.00, p=0.007].

CONCLUSIONS

Decelerations are common in elite field hockey and very high intensities are present. These findings, in conjunction with other metrics can be used as a tool to monitor the load associated with training and match play in field hockey.