ABSTRACT
The present study used the Social Network Analysis aiming to explain the direct and indirect relationships between the reception location and subsequent game procedures, evaluating the similarities and differences in offensive construction.The sample consisted of the analysis of 22 games from the 2018 Men’s Volleyball World Championship. Only teams placed from 1st to 8th positions had their games selected.The network analysis indicated that the reception zones Z5, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z9 and Z1 showed greater relationships between the game procedures, suggesting more diversity in the type of game played.Our results indicate that elite male volleyball game occurs mostly in-system situations, withoptimal conditions for the construction of the attack.On the other hand, the need to train the team off-system was evidenced, since high eigenvector values were identified in these attack construction conditions, evidencing off-system situations.Overall, the ecology of the game demands the athletes to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the possibilities of action.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).