GPS Analysis Methods minimaxX GPS

GPSAnalysisMethods
Dr.AlecButtfield

informationthatcanbeusedinplanningtrainingsessionsto replicategames.Forinstance,ifyoufindthatanathleteis doingmorelongandcontinuousrunsduringagamethen thosesortofeffortsshouldbeincorporatedintotrainingso thatgameactivitiesarereplicatedintraining.Itisverypos siblethatsomepositionsinagamewillhavemorelong effortsthanothers(amidfieldercomparedtoaforward,for instance).Thisinformationwillhelpyoutotailoryourtrain ingtonotjusttheoverallgamedemandsbutthephysical demandsofeachpositiononthefieldaswell.

AnalysingGPSdatacanrangefromsimpletoverycomplex, withthebestanalysisoftendictatedbythesituation. Thereare3maintypesofanalyses:Absolutespeed,relative speed(wheretheabsolutespeedisexpressedasapercent ageofthatathletesmaximumspeed)andchangeinveloc ity(oracceleration).

Absolutespeed
Often,simpleabsolutevaluesliketotaldistanceandaverage speedwilltellyouallyouneedtoknowabouthowhardan athleteworkedduringatrainingsessionorgame.Thereare manywaystoexpresssummaryvaluesforabsolutespeed whichallessentiallymeanthesamething,theyarejust expresseddifferently.Forexample,averagespeedcanbe measuredindifferentunits(m/sorkm/h)andisoftenex pressedasmetresrunperminute. Inadditiontothetotalaveragevalues,youneedtoknowif thedistributionofeffortacrossthespeedzonesisthesame. Otherwisethereisnowaytotellifsessionsyouareanalys ingwerecompletedinthesameway.Todothis,absolute speedisbrokendownintotimespentanddistancerunin differentspeedzones(i.e.timespentrunningbetween 15km/hand20km/h).Totaldistanceandtimespentin thesezonesprovidesanexcellentsnapshotoftheintensity ofeffortduringthesession.Also,expressingthesevaluesas apercentageofthetotaltimeordistanceallowsforaquick comparisonacrosssessions. Continuoustimespentoverathresholdspeedcanbeused toexaminehowmanysteadystateeffortstookplace.This valuecouldbeexpressedasnumberofcontinuouseffortsin azoneoveracertaintimethreshold(i.e.numberoftimes anathleterunsatover10km/hforatleast10seconds),or thelongestcontinuoustimeoverathresholdspeed.These valueswillgiveyouinformationonlongereffortsofcon tinuousrunningwhichwouldoccurinsituationslikerunning thelengthofthefieldduringagame.Thisisveryimportant
March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

Example1:Anathleteseemstoberunningoutofenergy partwaythroughthegame,butwhenyoulookattheirav eragespeedthereisnodifferencefromfirsthalftosecond half.However,whenyoubreakdownthespeedduring eachhalfandlookatthespeeddistribution,thesecondhalf haslesstimespentinthehigherspeedzonesandmoretime runningataconstantpaceinthelowerspeedzones.Thisis demonstratedwithrealdatainthegraphbelow.Inthis example,thereisvirtuallynodifferenceintheaverage speed(theathleterananextrametreperminuteinthefirst half),butthereisalargedifferenceinthedistributionofthe percentageoftimespentinthespeedzones,withthemain differencecominginthetimespentinzone2(aboutjogging pace).Thisathletespentmuchmoretimeatjoggingpace andlesstimeatafastrunpaceduringthesecondhalf.In addition,therewereoverdoublethenumberofaccelera tioneffortsduringthefirsthalf.Alteringtrainingtocon centratemoreonrepeatedeffortsatthehigherspeed zonestomaketheathletemoreresilienttothosetypesof

GPS Analysis Methods minimaxX GPS

effortsshouldhelpthemtobemoreeffectiveinthesecond halfofthegame.

aboutthedistributionofintensityduringthesession,and continuoustimeinzoneswillprovideusefulinformationon steadystaterunning. Example3:Twoathletesranthesamedistanceinatraining session.HowmuchrecoverywillathleteAneedcompared toathleteB? Toanswerthisquestion,theirrelativespeedmustbeexam ined.Iftheyhavesignificantlydifferentmaximumspeeds, theyhaveprobablyworkedatdifferentintensities.Using relativespeedtolookateachathletesintensityofeffort willgiveyouamuchbetterideaoftheactualphysicalload placedonanathleteduringthesession,andthereforehow muchrecoverytheyshouldneedbeforethenextsession. Example4:Youfeelthatoneofyourphysicallytalented athletesisntquitereachingtheirpotentialduringgames. Bylookingattheirrelativespeed,youcancomparehow hardtheyworkedcomparedtotherestofthegroup.If,for instance,theyranatanaveragespeedof20km/handtheir maximumspeedis35km/h,theyprobablywerenotpushing themselvesashardasanotherathletewhoranatanaver agespeedof18km/hbuttheirmaximumspeedis25km/h. Themoretalentedathleteachievedabetterabsoluteresult (20km/hcomparedto18km/h),buttheiractualphysical effortwasnotasmuchastheslowerathlete.Thiscouldbe duetoanumberoffactorsliketactics,gamesituation,dis tributionsofeffortacrossthespeedzonesandnumberof sprints.However,therelativemeasureofperformancehas allowedyoutodirectlycomparetwoathletesofdifferent maximumphysicalcapabilities.

Figure1:Timeinspeedzones,expressedasapercentageoftotal time.Theathletehadanalmostidenticalaveragespeed,butthe analysisoftimespentinspeedzonesshowsadifferenceintheway thatspeedwasachieved.

Example2:Youareusingtotaldistancetotrackworkrate duringagame,andyounoticeaslightdropofftwoweeksin arow.Thiscouldbeduetoanumberoffactors,including thetacticsusedduringthegame.Agoodindicatorof whetherornotthereweredifferentgameconsiderationsis togobackandcheckthespeeddistributiontolookforany differencesinhowtheathleteachievedtheiraveragespeed. Ifthereisnodifference,thenotherfactorssuchasinjury, recoveryandmotivationshouldbeexamined.Eitherway, usingthesimplemeasureoftotaldistanceduringagameas anindicatorofefforthaseffectivelyidentifiedachangein thenormalgameperformance.

RelativeSpeed
Comparingmatchandtrainingperformanceacrossagroup ofathletesbecomesdifficultifyouhaveadiversegroup.To accuratelycompareacrosssuchagroup,youmaynotonly needtoknowtheirabsoluteperformance,butyoualso needtoknowhowclosethatperformancewastothe maximumperformancetheyarecapableof.Thisiswhere relativemeasurescanbeused.Byconvertingtheabsolute measurestoapercentageofanathletesmaximumper formanceyoucaneasilycomparehowhardphysicallya groupofathleteshaveworked. Theanalysisofrelativespeedmeasurescanbedoneinthe samewayasforabsolutespeedmeasures.Simplemeas ureslikeaveragepercentageeffortwillgiveaverygood overviewoftherelativespeedduringthesession.Splitting thevaluesintozoneswillprovidemoreindepthinformation

Acceleration
Thethirdformofanalysisandprobablytheleastunder stoodischangeinspeedoracceleration.Runningatacon stantpacetakesmuchlesseffortthanacceleratingandde celerating.Iftwoathleteshaveaveragedthesamespeed duringatrainingsession,theonewhohasvariedtheirspeed themostwillhavespentthemostenergy. Unfortunately,accelerationisnotaneasymeasuretocalcu late.Youcannotuseaconstantthresholdamountasacut offtodefinewhenachangeinspeedcanbedeemedsig

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

GPS Analysis Methods minimaxX GPS

nificantbecauseitiseasiertoacceleratefromslowspeeds thanitisfromhigherstartingspeeds.Forinstance,two athletes(athletesAandB)couldbeusingthesame amountofenergytoaccelerate,butathleteAhasamuch lowerstartingspeedfortheiraccelerationsthantheother. AthleteAwillhavemorechangeinspeedthanathleteB, soifyouuseaconstantthresholdyouwouldassumethat athleteAhasacceleratedmoreandthereforespentmore energy. Toavoiderrorslikethis,youneedtoscaletheamountof accelerationforthestartingspeedoftheeffort. Eventhoughitisdifficulttodetermine,thenumberand typeofaccelerationsisaveryimportantvalue.Itisreally thebestmeasureofsprintingavailable,muchbetterthan usinganabsolutethresholdtodeterminewhenasprint startsandfinishes.Thisisbecauseifyouuseathreshold valuetodetermineasprintstart,youhaveignoredtheini tialpartofthesprintthatacceleratedtheathleteuptothat thresholdvalue.Ofcourseinmanysports,sprinteffortscan beveryshort;demandinghighaccelerationandphysically effort,butperhapsneverreachingahighabsolutespeed.By usingaccelerationtoidentifysprints,thenthestarting speed,durationandevenmaximumspeeddonotaffectthe identificationofasprint. Lookingatthetimebetweenaccelerationshasbeenfound tobeaveryreliableindicatoroffitnessandperformancein teamsports.OftencalledRepeatSprints(orRepeatHigh IntensityEfforts),thisvaluelooksatthenumberoftimes sprints(oraccelerations)aredonewithlimitedrestbe tweenefforts.Doingmultipleaccelerationsoverashort periodoftime(i.e.whentheballisinthesameareaasthe athlete)takesalotofenergy,andisaverygoodindicatorof anathletesfitness(afitterathletewillhavemorerepeat sprintsthanalessfitathlete).Itsparticularlyrelevantto teamandballsportswheretheballmaystayinaparticular areaofthepitchforsometime,andthebestathletesare abletomakerepeatedeffortstoinfluenceplay. Repeatsprintscanalsobebrokendownforamoredetailed analysis.Forinstance,youcanlookattheamountofrest betweensprints,orthelengthofthesprints,orthenumber ofsprintsthatanathletecanclustertogetherduringa game.Itisaveryimportantmeasureintheanalysisofteam sports.

Example5:Twoathleteshavethesameaveragespeedand similardistributionofspeedacrosszones.However,oneof theathleteshasalotmoreaccelerationsandistherefore morevariableintheirspeed.Highervariabilityofspeed meanshigherenergycost,sotheathletewithmoreaccel erationshasworkedharderduringthesession.Aswithall physiologicalvalues,thehigherenergycostdoesnotneces sarilymeanbettergameperformancesincelessvariabilityin speedmightmeanreadingtheplaymoreeffectively.How ever,thereareimplicationsforphysicaltrainingandrecov erywhichcanbetakenfromtheseresults. Example6:Twoathleteshavethesamenumberofsprints, butoneathletehasclusteredtheirsprintstogether(i.e.has morerepeatsprints).Ifthegamesituationsarethesame, theseresultssuggestthattheathletewithlessrepeatsprint effortsisstrugglingtorecoverfromtheirinitialsprint.A repeatsprintexamplecanbeseeninthegraphbelow, whichshowsspeedvstimeduringanAFL(AustralianRules Football)game.Inthehighlightedsection,theathletehas beenabletosprintthreetimeswithlittlerestbetweenef forts.Hehasbeenabletorecoverfromhisinitialeffort sufficientlytoinfluencetheplaytwicemoreinashortpe riodoftime.Researchsuggeststhatallplayerswillbeable toproduceonesprint,somewillbeabletodotwo,butonly thebestareabletoconsistentlysprintthreetimeswithlittle restbetweenefforts.Specifictrainingthatconcentrateson acceleratingwithminimalrecoveryshouldhelptheathlete torecoverfasterfromtheinitialsprintandproducemore repeatsprintefforts.

Figure2:SpeedvstimegraphforaportionofanAFLgame,witha sectioncontainingarepeatsprintefforthighlighted.

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

GPS Analysis Methods minimaxX GPS

Summary:
GPSanalysiscanrangefromasimpleoverviewtoacomplex andindepthanalysis.Butforallanalysestherearethree mainareasthatneedtobeexamined;Howfaranathlete hasgoneandthetimetakentogetthere(absolutespeed), howhardtheyhaveworkedinrelationtotheirowncapa bilities(relativespeed),andhowvariabletheireffortwas (acceleration).Moreinformationwillalwaysbecomeavail ablewithmorecomplexanalysis.However,afewsimple measuresforabsolutespeed,relativespeedandaccelera tionwilloftentellyouallyouneedtoknowabouthowan athleteperformedduringthegameortrainingsession.

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410