The physical and physiological demands of small-sided games: How important is winning or losing?
The present study examined the effect that success (win) or failure (loss) during competitive small-sided games (SSG) has on physical and physiological demands. Twenty six outfield hurling players were monitored with GPS (4-Hz, VX Sport, New Zealand) and heart rate monitors (Polar Electro,
Oy, Kempele, Finland). Total distance (m), high-speed distance (≥ 17 km·h-1; m), sprint distance (≥ 22 km·h-1; m) and peak velocities (km·h-1) during SSG were analysed. Time spent in different HR zones, maximum heart rate (HRmax),
average HR and percentage of HRmax were also considered. Results showed significant effects for team success (win) on all collected variables, with successful teams showing significantly higher total distances (p = 0.013; d = 3.50 ± 0.30; very large) when compared to losing
teams. Team success during SSG impacted high-speed performance with winning teams covering more distance (p = 0.002; d = 4.53 ± 0.46; very large). Similar trends were documented for physiological variables with significant effects reported for winning teams spending more time at higher
percentages (≥95%) of HRmax when compared to losing teams (p = 0.013; d = 2.64 ± 0.34, very large). The current study has shown that success (win) or failure (loss) within SSG plays an important role for SSG design.
Keywords: GPS; PHYSIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE; RUNNING PERFORMANCE
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 August 2016
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Terms & Conditions
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content