The positional and temporal running demands of elite inter-county camogie match play across 5-min intervals

Camogie is a native Irish female field sport game. This investigation aimed to establish elite camogie players' positional and temporal running demands across 5-min intervals during competitive match play.

Thirty-one (n = 31) inter-county camogie players (age: 24 ± 4 years; height: 167.2 ± 6.3 cm; body mass: 67.0 ± 7.5 kg) from two squads wore commercially available 10-Hz Playertek GPS units (Playertek by Catapult, Australia) during Senior All-Ireland Championship games (n = 8). Players were categorised according to match positions (defenders, mid-fielders, forwards). Games were split into quarters, and subsequently into 5-min intervals for analysis (5-min intervals are more closely associated with small-sided games and training than half-by-half comparisons).

Analysis revealed significant positional and temporal differences to exist (p < 0.05). Mid-fielders covered greater total (r = 0.16-0.19) and relative distance (r = 0.15-0.17), with forwards covering greater high-speed distances (r = 0.09-0.19). Mid-fielders had greater temporal performance decrements for sprint distance between all first quarter intervals and 55-60 interval (Kendall's W (W = 0.86-1.00), as well as the 0-5 and all final quarter intervals for total distance (W = 0.86-1.00). Defenders had significant performance decreases during the 25-30 (W = 0.29-0.60) and 40-45 interval (W = 0.14-0.57) for both total and relative distance. Forwards exhibited the lowest performance decrement, with no significant differences for peak speed, high-speed running, or sprint distance (W = 0.00-0.53).

Positional and temporal differences are evident in elite camogie match play. Mid-fielders have the greatest total and sprint distance decrements, with defenders also exhibiting total and relative distance decreases. Coaches should focus on temporal differences with respect to position, to minimise performance decrements.