====== How fast is fast? Defining Velocity Zones in Women’s Rugby League ======

[[https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2022.2062438|Download]]

Cummins, C., Charlton, G., Paul, D., Buxton, S., Murphy, A. [[smif2022|"How fast is fast? Defining Velocity Zones in Women’s Rugby League"]], Science and Medicine in Football, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2023.

===== Abstract =====

=== Objectives ===

The study aimed to: 1) apply a data-mining approach to identify velocity zone thresholds for female rugby league players and; 2) apply these velocity zones to examine the locomotor demands of match-play.

=== Methods ===

Microtechnology data were collected from elite female rugby league players representing all National Rugby League Women’s teams (n=85 players; n=224 files) over one season. Spectral clustering with a beta smoothing cut-off of 0.1 was applied to each player’s instantaneous match-play velocity data for the identification of four zones. To account for outliers within repeated data-points, the velocity zones for each player were calculated as the median. The overarching velocity zones were determined through an incremental search to minimise the root mean square error.

=== Results ===

Through a data-mining approach, four velocity zones were determined. Rounded to the nearest 0.5 km.h<sup>−1</sup> the velocity values across each zone were classified as low (0 to 11.49 km.h<sup>−1</sup>), moderate (11.50 to 17.49 km.h<sup>−1</sup>), high (17.50 to 20.99 km.h<sup>−1</sup>) and very-high (>21.00 km.h<sup>−1</sup>). Practical application of the zones demonstrated positional group differences in the absolute (effect size (ES): -0.03 to 1.77) and relative (ES: -0.04 to 1.60) locomotor demands of match-play. The back positional group covered greater absolute and relative distances at a very-high velocity than all other positions.

=== Conclusions ===

This work informs the velocity zones that could be applied consistently to women’s rugby league data within practical (i.e. in the training and monitoring of players) and academic (i.e. as a model for future research to analyse locomotor demands) settings.

===== Journal =====

[[https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rsmf20|Science and Medicine in Football]]