Footy Codes Speed Up

By Imago Group
Monday 4 December, 2006

The scientific community is warning of high injury tolls in professional athletes, not only during their careers but also after retirement.

SYDNEY – AFL, Soccer and Rugby are all being played faster today than ever before and collisions are more powerful as the athletes continue to get bigger.

Training loads are also higher than ever and any further increase will result in unacceptably high body demands.

Drawing substantially on the GPS tracking of athletes, these are the disquieting conclusions of Sport Knowledge Australia’s research team headed up by Professor Kevin Norton (SKA Director of Research and Knowledge Services).

Published research papers also illustrate post-career health issues showing that the level of hip and knee replacements in retired AFL players is approximately 80 times higher than aged-matched controls.

“The information gathered highlights the need to develop very specific training programs and avoid excessive injury risk at the same time as gaining the maximum benefit from training and competition,” says Professor Norton.

“To do this, it is necessary to measure game demands that team sports impose on players with the objective of adjusting training loads to be highly specific to mimic the efforts players will need to perform during games.”

Over a number of years Professor Norton and his colleagues have established that AFL players have become more powerful runners over shorter distances, that soccer is played at a higher speed and with fewer stoppages, and that rugby has become overall tighter and faster, demanding quicker more decisive decision-making.

Through GPS (Global Positioning System) devices and other research tools, Norton has tracked the training and playing movements of teams including the Adelaide Crows (AFL), Adelaide United (Soccer), the NSW Waratahs and Wallabies (Rugby Union).

At a one-day Sport Knowledge Australia seminar being presented on 14 December in Sydney, GPS technology and its application in sport will undergo a thorough examination. Titled “Effective Use of GPS Tracking Data” the course will be presented by SKA personnel – Prof Norton and researcher Dr Carlos Ohanian along with Troy Flanagan, Head of Sport Science at the Victorian Institute of Sport, and Dr Aaron Coutts from University of Technology, Sydney.

SPORT KNOWLEDGE AUSTRALIA RESEARCH EXTRACTS

Training and volume loads in professional team sports are now higher than ever. Today we cannot expect to increase these loads any further as the risk of injury and overtraining will become unacceptably high.

RUGBY UNION

Game density is an index of the number of players around the ball at any time. The density has increased since the first World Cup (1987) and the last one (2003).

Play periods last much longer today, and are played at a higher speed once the ball is released from set pieces. Since there are many more players around the ball players today face a much tighter and overall faster game. This requires quick and correct decision-making under increased pressure, a greater level of fitness for recovery, and superior skills.

AFL

Speed of the game is much faster today.

During the past 6 years, Norton et al found that distance covered per match has decreased from about 20 km to 12-15 km.

Today, players cover a shorter distance at higher speeds, while previously they covered longer distances at lower speeds.

Player density has also increased significantly in the AFL.

SOCCER

Game speed has increased continuously for the past 30 years.

Percentage of the game as play time has decreased. Also, the time to restart the game after stops (corner kicks, throw ins, kick outs) has increased. This shows that today the game is more intermittent than before and that play periods are played at a very intense tempo.

With longer stoppages, recovery from previous efforts is higher, resulting in higher levels of power once the game is restarted.

Player density has also increased significantly in international soccer games.

Full course details click here

ABOUT SKA: Launched in June 2005 with a Federal Government grant, SKA is jointly owned by the University of Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. SKA assists the continued global growth of the sports industry, helping more communities around the world to benefit from Australia’s strong sporting culture. Since its launch, SKA has delivered sport management programmes at the prestigious Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, run facility management courses in China and various seminars and courses in Australia on topics as diverse as player valuation strategies, genetic doping in sport, player welfare, executive sport management, elite sport coaching, major event management and facility management.

ATTENTION EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: Course presenters are available for interview by contacting – Liz Herbert - Mobile: 0407 234 221 Tel: +61 2 9331 7222 /