Game Demands of Womens Field Hockey

The fast-paced action of the FIH Pro League is happening right now. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) round-robin tournament of nine teams began in January and continues through June. The league serves as a qualifier for the Hockey World Cup and the Olympic Games.

The sport requires heavy exercise and the athletes to be fit. Here are a few things that coaches need to know about the physical demands of high-level competition.

• The energy expenditure of playing field hockey has been estimated to range from 9-12 calories per minute and the maximal aerobic fitness or VO2max level of female players is between 45 to 59 ml/kg/min.
• Defenders typically play 5-6 min more than midfielders, whereas midfielders play about 6-12 min more than forwards.
• The total distance covered during a match can range from 3720-10,200 yards with an average of 7200 yards.
• The activity profile during a match (% of the total match) is as follows: 56% low-intensity exercise (standing: 6%; walking: 50%) Moderate-intensity 38% (jogging: 26%; running: 12%) and High-intensity (fast running: 5%; sprinting: 1.5%).
• Although the sport requires aerobic fitness, the short-burst, high-intensity movements that require anaerobic power output are the key discriminating factor between elite and sub-elite level players.
• Moderate and high-intensity distances cumulatively range from 2300 to 2800 yards (26-28% total distance) with about 43–58 efforts of high-intensity running covering 400–625 yards.
• Midfielders perform a greater number and cover more distance in high-velocity and high-acceleration efforts compared to forwards and defenders.

How do we know all of this? GPS technology. To learn more about how coaches use GPS technology in sport click here.

Sports Performance Tracking are experts in simple, powerful and affordable GPS monitoring solutions, contact our team to find out more information at www.sportsperformancetracking.com

References:

Gabbett TJ. GPS analysis of elite women’s field hockey training and competition. J Strength Cond Res 2010 May;24(5):1321-4.

Macutkiewicz D, Sunderland C. The use of GPS to evaluate activity profiles of elite women hockey players during match-play. J Sports Sci 2011 Jun;29(9):967-73.

Reilly T, Borrie A. Physiology applied to field hockey. Sports Med. 1992 Jul;14(1):10-26

Vescovi JD, Frayne DH. Motion characteristics of division I college field hockey: Female Athletes in Motion (FAiM) study. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2015 May;10(4):476-81.