Analyzing physical demands of ball-in-play activity in young female rugby sevens athletes during matches

Abstract

Assessing the intensity of gameplay and physical demands placed on athletes is crucial for sports practitioners to optimize athlete preparation for competitions. In Rugby Sevens, various methods can be utilized to gauge the physical workload and demands of the players, potentially yielding different parameters. Accurate assessment is imperative for providing coaches and practitioners with reliable insights into the physical requirements of a match. Relying on inaccurate references for athlete preparation could jeopardize sports success and increase the risk of injury. Thus, this study aimed to compare the locomotor demands of a Rugby Sevens match based on ball-in-play and whole-game average methods. Additionally, our study aimed to determine the worst-case scenario demands by analyzing long bouts of ball-in-play during matches. A total of 14 under-19 female professional rugby players participated in this study. The study analyzed the physical demands of a single match obtained using individual GPS. The results indicated that the whole-game averaging method underestimated the workload averages compared with the ball-in-play method. Additionally, the ball-in-play method was more sensitive to workload changes across half-times, and the worst-case scenario presented higher physical demands than the match averages. Overall, our results provide insights into the physical demands of Rugby Sevens and provide reference values that may be useful for coaches in planning the training of female Rugby Sevens athletes. Keywords Monitoring methods; Match demands; GPS; Rugby Sevens