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Movement characteristics of international and elite domestic netball players during match-play
Mackay, Lois Jones, Ben Owen, Cameron Sawczuk, Thomas White, Ryan Denton, Katie Whitehead, Sarah
Mackay, Lois
Jones, Ben
Owen, Cameron
Sawczuk, Thomas
White, Ryan
Denton, Katie
Whitehead, Sarah
Abstract
This study quantified and compared the movement characteristics of elite domestic and international netball match-play, including fifteen individual players who compete at both levels. Microtechnology data were collected across 75 matches in a league-wide study from players (n = 113) competing in the Netball Superleague (elite domestic) and from international players (n = 23) in 22 international matches. Players were categorised according to the seven playing positions. Accelerometer-derived variables were analysed per whole-match and per quarter, for both absolute (i.e. volume) and relative to duration (i.e. intensity [per minute]) values. The median playing duration ranged across positions from 23.6 to 42.4 minutes at international and 31.6 to 48.1 minutes at domestic level. International matches were greater than elite domestic competition for relative variables across all positions. Moderate to large effect sizes (1.00–1.50) were found between playing levels for PlayerLoadTM per minute (AU·min−1). Significant decreases in both absolute and relative variables were observed across quarters for both competition levels. The movement characteristics are position dependent, with greater absolute characteristics at domestic level across whole-match analysis, but greater relative characteristics at international level. These findings provide practitioners with information to guide training prescription, return-to-play protocols, and transitioning athletes between levels of competition.
Keywords
netball, movement characteristics, microtechnology, inertial measurement units, international, match demands
Date
2025
Type
Journal article
Journal
International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport
Book
Volume
25
Issue
1
Page Range
144-161
Article Number
ACU Department
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.