Physical demands during a regional competition in women's field hockey

Abstract

Objective: compare and analyze the physical demands of amateur field hockey players during regional competition matches. Material and methods: sixteen players (age: 22.79 ± 3.02 years; weight: 60.02 ± 5.46 kg; height: 163.48 ± 5.11 cm) belonging to a first division “A” of the Metropolitan Championship of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which were monitored using global positioning systems during 22 matches. The analyzes were carried out based on the position of the players on the playing field. The data analyzed included total distance, sprint, sprint distance (>17 km/h), accelerations (>3 m/s²), decelerations (>3 m/s²), top speed and distance per minute. Results: the lateral defenders presented the greatest activity in total distance traveled. The midfielders presented greater minutes per minute compared to the other positions on the playing field. Regarding high-intensity activity (sprint distance, sprint and top speed), the front runners were the ones with the greatest activity. On the other hand, the neuromuscular activity (accelerations and decelerations) the midfielders presented the highest records. Conclusions: the results of this study show that the physical demands of amateur field hockey players depend on the position of the playing field.