Differences and Discriminatory Power of Water Polo Game-Related Statistics in Men in International Championships and Their Relationship With the Phase of the Competition

Abstract

The aims of this study were (a) to compare water polo game-related statistics by context (winning and losing teams) and phase (preliminary, classification, and semifinal/bronze medal/gold medal), and (b) identify characteristics that discriminate performances for each phase. The game-related statistics of the 230 men's matches played in World Championships (2007, 2009, and 2011) and European Championships (2008 and 2010) were analyzed. Differences between contexts (winning or losing teams) in each phase (preliminary, classification, and semifinal/bronze medal/gold medal) were determined using the chi-squared statistic, also calculating the effect sizes of the differences. A discriminant analysis was then performed after the sample-splitting method according to context (winning and losing teams) in each of the 3 phases. It was found that the game-related statistics differentiate the winning from the losing teams in each phase of an international championship. The differentiating variables are both offensive and defensive, including action shots, sprints, goalkeeper-blocked shots, and goalkeeper-blocked action shots. However, the number of discriminatory variables decreases as the phase becomes more demanding and the teams become more equally matched. The discriminant analysis showed the game-related statistics to discriminate performance in all phases (preliminary, classificatory, and semifinal/bronze medal/gold medal phase) with high percentages (91, 90, and 73%, respectively). Again, the model selected both defensive and offensive variables.

Analysis of shots in relation to the outcome in elite women's water polo matches. [Análisis de los lanzamientos en función del resultado en partidos de waterpolo femenino de élite].

“…Although similar results were reported by Lupo et al (2011), who found no differences according to the match outcome, other studies (Escalante et al, 2013;Lupo et al, 2012b) have reported that winning teams perform more counterattacks than losing ones, from which it can be speculated that there is an association with competitive level. The absence of differences between winners and losers in the present study could be explained by the high level of teams analysed (elite), independent of the match outcome.…”

“…This tactic is associated with the highest rate of goal scoring (Lupo et al, 2010(Lupo et al, , 2012a(Lupo et al, ,b, 2014. In that sense, forward players should therefore train to develop their passing speed to capitalize on advantages awarded and score a goal (Escalante et al, 2013). On the other hand, it seems that winners were awarded more advantages for counterattacking actions over time, and accordingly, took fewer shots from 'other offensive arrangement' (linked to counterattacks) in 2012 than in the other tournaments.…”

“…Over the years, there has been a continuous growth in the number of practitioners and teams, prompting researchers to study this discipline from different perspectives (Argudo, Arias, & Ruiz, 2009), such as physiological (Botonis, Toubekis, & Platanou, 2015), biomechanical (Stirn & Strojnik 2006) and technical and tactical (Garcia, Argudo, & Alonso, 2012;Gómez, DelaSerna, Lupo, & Sampaio 2014, 2016Lupo, Tessitore, Minganti, & Capranica, 2010;Lupo, Condello, & Tessitore, 2012a;Lupo, Minganti, Cortis, Perroni, Capranica, & Tessitore, 2012b;Lupo, Condello, Capranica, & Tessitore, 2014;Lupo, Capranica, Cugliari, Gómez, & Tessitore 2015;Tucher et al, 2014) aspects. However, most of these studies has been carried out focussing on men's matches and despite a certain number of them has focused on women's water polo (Argudo, García, Alonso, & Ruiz, 2007a,b;Escalante et al, 2011Escalante et al, , 2012Escalante et al, , 2013Lupo, Tessitore, Minganti, King, Cortis, & Capranica, 2011;Lupo et al, 2014;Takagi, Nishijima, Enomoto, & Stewart, 2005). There is a lack of information about female water polo players' characteristics.…”

“…To discover the most effective scoring tactics, previous studies have focussed on the analysis of the shots performed during a match, including offensive and defensive final arrangements (Lupo et al, 2011(Lupo et al, , 2012a(Lupo et al, ,b, 2014Menescardi, 2017), player positions (Lupo et al, 2010;Özkol, Turunç, & Dopsaj, 2013), type of shot (Argudo et al, 2007a(Argudo et al, ,b, 2009Lloret, 1998;Lupo et al, 2010Lupo et al, , 2011Lupo et al, , 2012aLupo et al, , 2014, zone where a shot ends up in the goal (Özkol et al, 2013) and the outcome of shots (Escalante et al, 2013). The revision of the water polo literature shows that shot analysis has been carried out on different parameters, but in separated studies, so there is currently no study covering all these variables to describe, in detail, the tactics used by teams.…”

Measures of tactical efficiency in water polo

“…The discriminatory analysis we use to address (ii) is similar in spirit to the recent studies of Lupo et al (2012aLupo et al ( , 2014, Escalante et al (2011Escalante et al ( , 2012Escalante et al ( , 2013. However, our work differs from these investigations in that we focus specifically on tactical analysis.…”