Purpose: To examine the speed profiles of elite wheelchair rugby (WCR) players during game-simulation training drills of differing player number and shot-clock regulations. A secondary aim was to determine whether the profiles were further influenced by player classification. Methods: Eight elite WCR players (low-point n = 3, high-point n = 5) were monitored using a radio-frequency-based indoor tracking system during training sessions over a 5-mo period. Speed profiles were collected for 3 modified game-simulation drills—3-versus-3 drills (n = 8 observations), 30-s shot clock (n = 24 observations), and 15-s shot clock (n = 16 observations)—and were compared with regular game-simulation drills (4 vs 4, 40-s shot clock; n = 16 observations). Measures included mean and peak speed; exercise-intensity ratios, defined as the ratio of time spent performing at high and low speeds; and the number of high-speed activities performed. Results: Compared with regular game-simulation drills, 3-versus-3 drills elicited a moderate increase in mean speed (6.3%; effect size [ES] = 0.7) and the number of high-speed activities performed (44.1%; ES = 1.1). Minimal changes in speed profiles were observed during the 30-s shot clock, although moderate to large increases in all measures were observed during the 15-s shot-clock drills. Classification-specific differences were further identified, with increased activity observed for high-point players during the 3-versus-3 drill and for low-point players during the 15-s shot clock. Conclusion: By reducing the number of players on court and the shot clock to 15 s, coaches can significantly increase elite WCR players’ speed profiles during game-simulation drills.
History
School
Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
Citation
RHODES, J.M. ... et al, 2018. Altering the speed profiles of wheelchair rugby players with game-simulation drill design. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13 (1), pp. 37-43
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Acceptance date
2017-03-18
Publication date
2018-01-31
Notes
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance and the definitive published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2016-0700 Please note that the title of the accepted version was Game-simulation drill design alters the speed profiles of wheelchair rugby players.