Mechanical determinants of forward skating sprint inferred from off‐ and on‐ice force‐velocity evaluations in elite female ice hockey players

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the correlations between players' mechanical capacities determined during off-and on-ice tests. Whole body force-velocity relationships were assessed in elite female ice hockey players (n = 17) during jumping [squat jump (SJ)], running (5 and 30 m) and skating (5 and 40 m) sprint tasks. Mechanical capacities estimates include relative maximal theoretical force (F 0rel ), velocity (V 0 ), power (P maxrel ), slope of the linear relationship between force relative to body mass and velocity (S FVrel ), maximal horizontal component of the ground reaction force to the corresponding resultant force (RF max ) and minimal rate of decrease of this ratio (D RF ). On-ice mechanical capacities (F 0rel , P maxrel , RF max and D RF ) largely-to-very largely correlated with 40-m skating split time (r ranging from 0.82 for D RF to −0.91 for P maxrel ; p < 0.001). Performance variables (SJ height, 30-m running and 40-m forward skating split time) and P maxrel demonstrated the largest associations between jumping, running and skating tasks (r ranging from −0.81 for 30-m sprint running time to 0.92 for SJ height; p < 0.001). Small (V 0 , S FVrel , D RF and force-velocity deficit) to very large (P maxrel ) correlations (r ranging from 0.58 to 0.72; p < 0.05) were obtained between mechanical variables inferred from off-and onice force-velocity tests. The capacity to generate high amounts of horizontal power and effective horizontal force during the first steps on the ice is paramount for forward skating sprint performance. Mechanical capacities determined during forward skating sprint could be considered in ice hockey testing to identify fitness and/or technical/training requirements.

Truncated Estimation of Skating Force-Velocity Profiling When Using High-Speed Video-Based Methods Compared to Radar-Derived Processing

“…Forward skating sprint FV profile was determined during the pre-season training camp of the national team as described elsewhere ( Perez et al, 2020 ). Players were instructed to wear their full ice hockey equipment and were weighed (72.6 ± 9.4 kg fully equipped) before the testing session.…”

“…This ST-TS approach aimed to remove uncertainty in identifying the onset of horizontal force generation by changing the duration of the first-time interval while maintaining the differences between other split times. On the ice, although skate’s blade must be oriented perpendicularly to the intended direction of motion inducing a medio-lateral force, the capacity to generate an efficient F 0 seems paramount for an efficient forward skating performance ( Pearsall et al, 2013 ; Perez et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Instantaneous horizontal velocity (V h , in m.s –1 ) was measured by the radar device at a 47 Hz sampling frequency. The radar was located 3.5 m behind the starting line at a height of 1 m from the ice surface, corresponding approximatively to the average height of players’ center of mass ( Samozino, 2018 ; Perez et al, 2019 , 2020 ). Meanwhile, to record the video of each sprint, the camera was held by the same practitioner at a height of 1.5 m (in the frontal plane) and positioned at 20 m from the starting line and at 11.5 m from the skating line ( Samozino, 2018 ).…”

“…Horizontal force, power output and acceleration achieved during forward skating sprint are key determinants of ice hockey performance ( Pearsall et al, 2013 ; Perez et al, 2020 ). Recently, the application of the force-velocity (FV) profiling during forward skating has been proposed using either in situ radar-derived ( Perez et al, 2019 , 2020 ) or high-speed video-based ( Stenroth et al, 2020 ) measurements with potential practical applications for training individualization and monitoring ( Morin and Samozino, 2016 ; Jimenez-Reyes et al, 2019 , 2020 ).…”

“…As previously mentioned, this method has been successfully applied to skating sprints ( Perez et al, 2019 ). While one may argue that such method requires specific data processing, it allows practitioners to accurately assess mechanical determinants of forward skating sprint such as relative maximal theoretical horizontal force (F 0 ), power (P max ) and the maximal ratio of the horizontal component of the ground-reaction force to the corresponding resultant force (RF max ) ( Perez et al, 2020 ). Recently, Stenroth et al (2020) adapted an alternative method based on the measurement of split time (ST method) with high-speed video (i.e., 240 frames per second) primarily developed to assess FV profiling during running sprint ( Samozino et al, 2016 ).…”