Aim
The aim of the study was to develop a method for the survey of play movement demands and temporal patterns in order to enable a descriptive study of the defensive players in American Football. The overall aim was to improve the understanding of how American Football is played to create opportunities for enhancement of current or developing new training methods to better suit football.
Method
Fifty plays from a Division 3 college football game on video from 2005 was divided into sequences of action for one player each from the defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs and analyzed with the video analyzing software cSwing. Every players sequence of action was recorded in a spreadsheet and noted on a scaled football field where distances were measured and together with time stamps from cSwing velocity was calculated.
Results
Using this method it was possible to describe the play movement demands and temporal patterns which was the main task of the study. The defensive end worked on an average 4.61 seconds per play, the distance was 12.4 meters and average speed 2.5 m×s-1. The linebacker worked on an average 4.35 s per play, 13.7 m and at a mean speed of 3.0 m×s-1. The free safety worked on an average 4.38 s per play, 14.7 m and at a mean speed of 3.3 m×s-1. The Linebacker had a more varied movement pattern than the other two positions.
Discussion
With the developed method both quantitative variables and qualitative assessments of play movement demands and temporal patterns could be done. With the aid of this information the coach can develop or enhance training methods that better emulates the demands games puts on the players. Using a GPS to enhance the quantitative analysis can lead to more extensive measurements of temporal patterns. Zoomed in video uptakes could lead to a better analysis of movement patterns
Conclusion
The developed method gives the American Football coach a tool to analyse the demands put on certain categories of players based on different types of and frequencies of play sequences and their temporal patterns. This enhanced knowledge the coach can use to improve practices