High intensity acceleration and deceleration demands in elite team sports competitive match-play: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Abstract

Background The external movement loads imposed on players, during competitive team sports, are commonly measured using global positioning system (GPS) devices. Information gleamed from analyses is employed to calibrate physical conditioning and injury prevention strategies with the external loads imposed during match-play. Intense accelerations and decelerations are considered particularly important indicators of external load. However, to date, no prior meta-analysis has compared high and very high intensity acceleration and deceleration demands in elite team sports during competitive match-play.
Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis quantifying and comparing high and very high intensity acceleration versus deceleration demands occurring during competitive match-play in elite team sport contexts.
Methods A systematic review of four electronic databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscuss, Web of Science) was conducted to identify peer reviewed manuscripts published between January 2010 and April 2018 that had reported higher intensity (>2.5 m·s-2) accelerations and decelerations concurrently in elite team sports competitive match-play. A Boolean search phrase was developed using key words synonymous to team sports (population), acceleration and deceleration (comparators) and match-play (outcome). Articles only eligible for meta-analysis were those that reported either or both high (>2.5 m·s-2) and very high (>3.5 m·s-2) intensity accelerations and decelerations concurrently using GPS devices (sampling rate: > 5Hz) during elite able-bodied (mean age: ≥ 18 years) team sports competitive match-play (match time: ≥75%). Separate inverse random-effects meta-analysis were conducted to compare: (1) standardised mean differences (SMD) in the frequency of high and very high intensity accelerations and decelerations occurring during match-play, and (2) SMD of temporal changes in high and very high intensity accelerations and decelerations across 1st and 2nd half periods of match-play. Using recent guidelines recommended for the collection, processing and reporting of GPS data, a checklist was produced to help inform a judgement about the methodological limitations (risk of detection bias) aligned to ‘data collection’, ‘data processing’ and ‘normative profile’ for each eligible study. For each study, each outcome was rated as either ‘low’, ‘unclear’ or ‘high’ risk of bias (RoB).
Results A total of nineteen studies met the eligibility criteria, comprising seven team sports including American Football (n = 1), Australian Football (n = 2), hockey (n = 1), rugby league (n = 4), rugby sevens (n = 3), rugby union (n = 2) and soccer (n = 6) with a total of 469 male participants (mean age: 18 to 29). Analysis showed only American Football reported a greater frequency of high (SMD = 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.43) and very high (SMD = 0.19; 95% CI -0.42 to 0.80) intensity accelerations compared to decelerations. All other sports had a greater frequency of high and very high intensity decelerations compared to accelerations, with soccer demonstrating the greatest difference for both the high (SMD = -1.74; 95% CI -1.28 to -2.21) and very high (SMD = -3.19; 95% CI -2.05 to -4.33) intensity categories. When examining the temporal changes from the 1st to 2nd half periods of match-play there was a small decrease in both the frequency of high and very high intensity accelerations (SMD = 0.50 and 0.49, respectively) and decelerations (SMD = 0.42 and 0.46, respectively). The greatest RoB (40% ‘high’ RoB) observed across studies was in the ‘data collection’ procedures. The lowest RoB (35% ‘low’ RoB) was found in the development of a ‘normative profile’.
Conclusions To ensure that elite players are optimally prepared for the high intensity accelerations and decelerations imposed during competitive match-play, it is imperative that players are exposed to comparable demands under controlled training conditions. The results of this meta-analysis, accordingly, can inform practical training designs. Finally, guidelines and recommendations for conducting future research, using GPS devices, are suggested.