Activity profile and physical demands of male field hockey umpires in international matches

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the physical demands and activity profiles of international field hockey umpires during match-play. We collected GPS data and heart rates from ten umpires over 16 international matches. Total mean distance covered in a full match was 6655±406 m. No differences were observed between mean distances covered in the first and second halves (3390±241 m and 3264±253 m respectively; P =0.093). Hockey umpires spent 2.7±1% of the total match time performing high-intensity running (>15.5 km · h^–1). Paired t-tests revealed no difference in the distance umpires covered during high-intensity running in the first versus the second half (339±168 m vs. 285±106 m; P=0.113), or in the number of sprints performed (3.4±2.3 vs. 2.8±2.1; P=0.290). There was large inter-individual variability in the total distance covered at high intensity (range 274–999 m). No difference in mean heart rates was evident between the first and second half (150±9 and 147±10 beats · min^–1 respectively; P =0.055). The results of this study show that the performance of the participating hockey umpires did not decrease from the first to the second half. Training and testing procedures should be updated to reflect the specific role of the hockey umpire.

Keywords:

• Field hockey
• high-intensity running
• time–motion analysis
• heart rate
• umpiring
• physical performance