The variability of physical match demands in elite women’s football

Figures & data

Table 1. Variability of full match and 1-min peak locomotor demands expressed in raw units and coefficients of variation (%).

			Variability
	Metric		Between-match	Between-team	Between-position	Between-player	Within-player
SD (90% CI)^a	TD (m)	Full match	335 (278–393)	37 (0–212)	456 (132–749)	473 (379–547)	259 (239–277)
		1’ peak	6 (4–7)	2 (0–4)	8 (2–14)	7 (5–8)	10 (10–11)
	HSRD (m)	Full match	132 (103–154)	51 (0–137)	288 (95–446)	272 (222–323)	160 (148–171)
		1’ peak	7 (5–8)	2 (0–6)	10 (2–15)	8 (6–10)	13 (12–14)
	SpD (m)	Full match	40 (29–49)	0 (0–39)	111 (31–172)	103 (84–122)	73 (68–78)
		1’ peak	3 (0–4)	1 (0–3)	8 (3–12)	6 (4–7)	11 (10–12)
	Acc/Dec (#)	Full match	12 (10–15)	0 (0–11)	19 (0–32)	28 (23–33)	20 (18–21)
		1’ peak	0.3 (0.0–0.4)	0.0 (0.0–0.3)	0.8 (0.2–1.2)	0.7 (0.5–0.9)	1.3 (1.2–1.3)
	Peakspeed (m/s)	Full match	0.1 (0.0–0.1)	0.0 (0.0–0.1)	0.1 (0.0–0.9)	0.3 (0.3–0.4)	0.3 (0.3–0.3)
CV (90% CI)^b	TD (m)	Full match	3.6 (3.0–4.2)	0.2 (0.0–2.2)	4.9 (1.7–8.0)	4.9 (4.0–5.8)	2.8 (2.6–3.0)
		1’ peak	3.1 (2.3–3.8)	0.7 (0.0–2.2)	4.7 (1.5–7.3)	3.7 (2.7–4.5)	5.7 (5.3–6.1)
	HSRD (m)	Full match	10.2 (8.1–12.2)	1.1 (0.0–7.3)	22.8 (7.1–37.4)	18.9 (15.0–22.8)	11.7 (10.9–12.5)
		1’ peak	7.6 (5.5–9.7)	1.4 (0.0–5.2)	12.8 (2.6–20.9)	10.7 (7.9–13.3)	16.7 (15.5–17.9)
	SpD (m)	Full match	13.8 (10.0–17.5)	0.0 (0.0–13.1)	39.3 (8.8–66.9)	37.2 (28.4–46.2)	27.7 (25.6–29.7)
		1’ peak	6.4 (0.0–9.7)	0.0 (0.0–7.2)	20.0 (6.6–32.1)	14.9 (10.0–19.0)	28.4 (26.4–30.6)
	Acc/Dec (#)	Full match	6.2 (4.7–7.6)	0.0 (0.0–6.0)	9.2 (0.0–15.6)	14.2 (11.0–17.0)	9.7 (9.1–10.4)
		1’ peak	0.3 (0.0–0.4)	0.0 (0.0–3.2)	7.1 (0.8–11.3)	7.3 (5.1–9.0)	12.6 (11.7–13.5)
	Peakspeed (m/s)	Full match	0.1 (0.0–0.1)	0.0 (0.0–1.7)	1.9 (0.0–3.7)	4.4 (3.4–5.2)	4.4 (4.0–4.7)

SD = Standard deviation; CI = Confidence Intervals; CV = Coefficient of variation.

^aValues presented in the metric’s unit of measurement;

^bValues presented as a percentage of the mean

Table 2. Reference values for interpretation of individual changes in match physical performance in full match and 1-min peak periods.

Metric		Observed match-to-match variability^b	± Limits of agreement (%)^c		Change (±) required to be practically significant (%)^c
		CV (90% CI)^a	80%	90%	α = 0.10	α = 0.05
TD	Full match	4.6 (4.1–5.0)	8.3	10.6	9.4	11.8
	1’ peak	6.5 (6.0–7.0)	11.8	15.1	13.2	16.5
HSRD	Full match	15.9 (14.3–17.7)	28.8	36.9	33.3	41.5
	1’ peak	18.7 (17.2–20.1)	33.9	43.5	38.0	47.6
SpD	Full match	31.9 (29.1–34.5)	57.7	74.1	67.5	83.9
	1’ peak	29.4 (27.1–31.6)	53.3	68.4	59.9	75.0
Acc/Dec	Full match	11.7 (10.8–12.6)	21.2	27.2	24.7	30.7
	1’ peak	12.9 (12.1–13.8)	23.4	30.0	26.3	33.0
Pspeed	Full match	4.5 (4.2–4.8)	8.1	10.4	9.4	11.7

CV = Coefficient of variation.

^aValues presented as a percentage of the mean.

^bBased on the combined between-match and within-player variability.

^cBased on the observed match-to-match variability

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request.