Match Demands of Male and Female International Lacrosse Players Competing Under the World Lacrosse Sixes Format

Authors

Anthony Weldon, Faculty of Management and Hospitality, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Vocational Training CouncilFollow
Adam L. Owen, Interuniversity Laboratory of Human Movement Biology, Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon, France
Irineu Loturco, Department of Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Yianni Kyriacou, Hong Kong Lacrosse Association, Hong Kong
Wesley Wong, Hong Kong Lacrosse Association, Hong Kong
Shane Malone, Department of Science, Gaelic Sport Research Centre, Technological University Dublin, Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland
Jaime Sampaio, Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, CreativeLab Research Community, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
Aaron T. Scanlan, Human Exercise and Training Laboratory, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

Staff Page Link

Mr WELDON Anthony

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2022

Keywords

activity profile, global navigation satellite system, workload, team sports, training load, athletic performance

DOI

10.1519/JSC.0000000000004284

Abstract

Weldon, A, Owen, AL, Loturco, I, Kyriacou, Y, Wong, W, Malone, S, Sampaio, J, and Scanlan, AT. Match demands of male and female international lacrosse players competing under the World Lacrosse Sixes format. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2022—World Lacrosse recently announced World Lacrosse Sixes, which aims to be a smaller, faster, and more accessible format of lacrosse, when compared with traditional field lacrosse. This investigation aimed to quantify the movement and physiological demands of World Lacrosse Sixes in male (n = 25) and female (n = 22) international players. Match data were collected using Catapult Sports Vector S7 global navigation satellite system microsensors and Polar H1 heart rate (HR) monitors across 7 competitive matches. Results showed that 30–33% of the total distance covered by players was completed by walking (0–2 m·s⁻¹), 42–44% jogging (2–4 m·s⁻¹), 21% running (4–6 m·s⁻¹), and 0–2% sprinting (>6 m·s⁻¹). Mean relative HR (%HRmax) was similar (p > 0.05, ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.002; no effect) between sexes across matches (median values: male players = 93.5%; female players = 93.8%). Male players performed more accelerations (p < 0.001; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.117; moderate) and decelerations at ±4 m·s⁻² (p < 0.001; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.135; moderate) and distance sprinting at >6 m·s⁻¹ (p < 0.001; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.416; large) than female players. Whereas female players performed more accelerations (p < 0.001; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.20; large) and decelerations at ±2–3 m·s⁻² (p < 0.001; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.33; large) and impacts at 5–9 g-forces (p < 0.033; ηp2" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ηp2ηp2 = 0.063; moderate) than male players. These data are the first representing the movement and physiological demands of male and female players in World Lacrosse Sixes, allowing lacrosse coaches and the athlete support team to make informed and sex-specific decisions when developing training, testing, and tactical strategies to optimize player health and performance.

Source Publication

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Recommended Citation

Weldon, A.,Owen, A.,Loturco, I.,Kyriacou, Y.,Wong, W.,Malone, S.,Sampaio, J.,& Scanlan, A. (2022). Match Demands of Male and Female International Lacrosse Players Competing Under the World Lacrosse Sixes Format. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000004284