Brendyn Appleby

In this retrospective cohort study, we examined maximal intensity periods (MIPs) for a broad range of movement characteristics during international field hockey. Further, we examined the intensity of near-peak periods, and whether peak demands for different movement characteristics occurred simultaneously. Player movement data from 28 Australian elite male field hockey players were obtained via wearable tracking devices in four international tournaments over 13 months (n = 393 player-matches). MIPs were identified via the rolling-sum method for mean speed, high-speed distance (> 5 m·s
), accelerations (> 2.5 m·s
), decelerations (< - 2.5 m·s
) and high-speed cuts (45° change of direction and > 5 m·s
) across eight epochs (range: 5 s-5 min). Random effects linear mixed models were used to estimate means for each movement characteristic, with random intercepts fitted for players and matches. Mean speed was ∼80% higher during the 1 min MIP (210 m·min
) than the match average (116 m·min
) and players regularly reached high mean speeds (for instance, the 10th most intense minute was still ∼44% above match average). High-speed distance, accelerations and decelerations accumulated > 5x faster during the 1 min MIP for those variables than the match average and high-speed cuts occurred with ∼10x greater frequency. During the 1 min MIP for total distance, all other movement characteristics were less than 40% of the 1 min MIP for that variable (except high-speed distance: 76%). Match averages substantially underestimate the MIPs of elite field hockey. Practitioners should consider analysing the peak periods of matches, with a focus on high-intensity movements, to inform monitoring and prescription of team sport-specific training.

Goods, PS, Appleby, B, Scott, BR, Peeling, P, and Galna, B. High-intensity running during international male field hockey involves frequent changes of direction and repeated accelerations but seldom reaches sprint velocities. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-The aim of this investigation was to quantify the characteristics of high-intensity running in international male field hockey. Player movement data were collected through wearable player tracking devices across 3 tournaments (17 matches) from 27 members of the Australian male field hockey team (totaling 266 player matches). Active duration (minute), high-intensity efforts (>2.5 m·s-2 for >1 second), repeated high-intensity efforts (≥3 efforts with ≤45-second recovery between efforts), and sprints (>7 m·s-1) were extracted and aggregated for each player match. The duration, distance, mean and peak speed, mean change of direction and straightness for each high-intensity effort, and peak deceleration at the conclusion of each effort were calculated. Mixed-effects models were used to estimate the mean for each outcome (fixed effect), with random intercepts modeled for player and match. On average, players completed 42.2 high-intensity efforts and 2.1 sprints per match. High-intensity efforts were short (3.61 seconds, 12.9 m), failed to reach high velocities (average peak velocity: 4.8 m·s-1), and involved frequent changes of direction (56% of efforts were not straight). There were 4.7 bouts of repeated high-intensity efforts per player, per match (comprising 3.8 efforts, with 3.53 seconds per effort separated by 16.2-second recovery). Last, we also found that 29% of high-intensity efforts involved a high-speed deceleration (>3.5 m·s-2), and these occurred frequently when in conjunction with a >45° (86%) or >90° (89%) change of direction. We recommend practitioners focus on developing players' ability to repeatedly accelerate, decelerate, and change direction over short distances and adopt testing and monitoring programs that assess these qualities.