Theses
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/623041
2024-03-28T16:48:36ZAn Examination of the Field-Based Training Practices in European Super League’s first Quadruple Winning Champions
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628479
An Examination of the Field-Based Training Practices in European Super League’s first Quadruple Winning Champions
Fairbank, Matthew
Using a case study approach, the primary aim of this thesis was to develop an understanding of field-based training practices of a successful professional rugby league team. The research findings were applied to inform the coaching practices of the club but also offered insight that might be of interest more widely given the success of the team over an extended period. Chapter 4 quantified the types of training used during a preseason by the team. There was a 4-week increase in external load, followed by a “regeneration week” in week 5 before an increase in load during week 6. A weekly cycle also emerged with Monday primarily comprising Rugby Skill drills and Speed drills, Tuesday largely Rugby Skill based alongside Conditioning and Game-Based Training, Thursday was a mix of training types with Friday primarily consisting of Game-Based Training that also coincided with the week’s highest values for total distance, high-speed running, and high metabolic distance.
Chapter 5 examined the associations between the types of training in preseason and improvements in intermittent running performance (i.e., prone Yo-Yo IR1). The intensity (r = 0.61; 95% CI 0.18, 0.84) and PlayerLoadTM (r = 0.44; 95% CI -0.05, 0.76)
during Game-Based Training and high-speed running (r = 0.61; 95% CI 0.18, 0.84) in Conditioning had positive associations with the mean change in prone Yo-Yo IR1 performance (200 ± 143 m [18.1 ± 13.5%]). Total duration of Game-Based Training had a negative association with change in prone Yo-Yo IR1 performance (r = -0.57; 95% CI -0.82, -0.12). These data enable the manipulation of training practices to target specific external metrics (e.g., intensity, PlayerLoadTM, high-speed running) when
improvements in intermittent running capacity of professional rugby league players is the desired goal.
Chapter 6 examined the differences in external and internal load of field-based training between the three different in-season match-day microcycles and assessed the differences in external demands of matches between the microcycles. Game-Based
Training contributed the most to external (total distance, high metabolic distance and PlayerLoadTM) and internal load (highest HRmax, time spent in HR band 5 and HR band 6) for the main training day in long (MD-5), medium (MD-4), and short (MD-2)
turnarounds. Both short (86.7 ± 7.9 m.min-1) and medium (86.5 ± 10.9 m.min-1) turnaround matches resulted in lower intensity values than long turnarounds (89.5 ± 7.6m.min-1; P < 0.05). No other differences in external demands were observed between the 3 different match-day microcycles. The consistency in match-day external demands is a desirable outcome as the training week has effectively prepared athletes to perform in match. Additionally, the extensive use of Game-Based Training allowed for the maintenance of physical qualities whilst technically and tactically developing and preparing players for competition.
Chapter 7 examined the effect altering match rules (because of COVID-19) had on the external demands of match play. There were increases in whole team high-speed running (r = 0.09; 95% CI 0.02, 0.15 c.f. r = 0.29; 95% CI 0.20, 0.38) and an increased ball-in-play time (52.16 ± 5.01 min c.f. 55.58 ± 4.04 min). These changes highlight the impact of rule changes on the movement demands of professional rugby league matches and the implications for the design of appropriate training practices to better
prepare players.
Chapter 8 assessed the effects altering the area size per-person of Game-Based Training and the length of Conditioning drills has on key external load metrics. The study showed that increasing the area of Game-Based Training by 10 m2 per-person
resulted in athletes covering greater distance (539.3 ± 49.6 m c.f. 500.9 ± 62.9 m & 555.4 ± 55.9 m c.f. 491.4 ± 40.1 m), higher intensities (132.1 ± 12.1 m.min-1 c.f. 122.4 ± 15.4 m.min-1 & 136.8 ± 13.8 m.min-1 c.f. 121.4 ± 9.9 m.min-1), and greater high metabolic distances (122.4 ± 32.0 m c.f. 81.8 ± 22.9 m & 153.0 ± 33.0 m c.f. 120.3 ± 27.1 m). However, the smaller area Game-Based Training showed significantly greater cognitive load (dRPE-C; 73.2 ± 7.8 c.f. 56.3 ± 17.9 AU), possibly due to increased technical/tactical involvements. Increasing the length of conditioning drills resulted in an increase in all external metrics for the shuttle runs, with the linear run experiencing an increase in intensity but a reduction in total distance and PlayerLoadTM. Chapter 8 also found that the coefficient of variation (%CV) between-players during Game-Based Training was higher than previously reported in soccer, with high-speed distance found to have the highest level of variability (23 – 58%), whereas linear running Conditioning
drills had much lower variability (4 – 5 %). Game-Based Training is an effective training method, however the variability experienced could leave players under or over trained if this method was solely used, highlighting the importance of using it as a part of balanced programme.
2023-02-01T00:00:00ZUnderstanding active travel as a public health issue in Greater Manchester: A figurational sociology study
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/627968
Understanding active travel as a public health issue in Greater Manchester: A figurational sociology study
White, Christopher C.
Several policies in the United Kingdom (UK) have highlighted the multifaceted benefits to be gained from active travel (AT), and in doing so, have increasingly positioned AT as a public health issue. However, little is known about the experiences and views of public health individuals in relation to AT. Accordingly, this thesis explores the realities of AT as a public health issue, focusing on public health figurations in Greater Manchester (GM). GM was identified as an area of interest because of ‘devolvement deals’ in health and transport. The devolution deals afforded GM leaders with greater powers to make decisions, separate from national government. Importantly for this study, health devolution policies focused heavily on ‘shifts’ towards ill-health prevention, where AT was described as a key activity.
The study was informed by figurational sociology in order to trace the relational processes formed and maintained across participants’ figurations. Primary data consisted of 42 semi-structured interviews with people in various roles related to public health. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, generating four theoretically informed themes.
Findings illustrated how various processes meant that AT work within public health figurations in GM was often more constrained than it was enabled. Constraining processes included: habitual attachments to cars and car dominated environments; enduring financial constraints; entrenched medicalised and individualistic habituses amongst figurations. These processes meant that AT programmes were regularly pushed to the peripheries of key concerns. This was strongly related to the relatively weak power of those most interested in AT to counter the stronger collective power of those who prioritised more treatment-centred work. This was exacerbated by a heavy reliance on assumptions that individuals in GM were well-placed to be ‘successful’ in implementing devolution. However, the more detailed elements of implementation were not deliberated until after the government’s financial deal. Here the realities were found to be quite different from some early, more fantasy-laden, intentions, which contributed to stagnation for ‘newer’ public health issues such as AT.
A further layer of complexity was that many were, to varying degrees, dependent on councillors when seeking to make AT changes, as councillors were often closest to the centre of power dynamics in local decision-making. However, there appeared to be disparity between public health aspirations for evidence-based policy making, and the political forms of decision making that councillors had become accustomed to. In particular, councillors often placed greater importance on communication with local residents. Decisions on AT were therefore often the outcomes of blends between evidence, political and financial thinking, and various ideologies, often leading to partial stasis for AT within public health figurations.
2022-11-14T00:00:00ZThe Reconstitution and Modelling of the Work Capacity Above Critical Power Following Severe Intensity Cycling
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/627794
The Reconstitution and Modelling of the Work Capacity Above Critical Power Following Severe Intensity Cycling
Chorley, Alan
The two-parameter critical power model comprising critical power (CP) and W′ is well accepted as a mathematical model representing exercise in the severe intensity domain. CP represents the maximum work rate derived from aerobic metabolism and W′ the fixed capacity of work above CP. However, within competitive cycle sport few races are performed exclusively within this domain, instead stochastic efforts where W′ is repeatedly depleted and reconstituted typify race demands. Relatively little is known about the reconstitution mechanisms and kinetics of W′ hence the initial aims of this thesis were to develop a reliable method of assessing W′ reconstruction and evaluate likely underlying physiological contributors to the rate of W′ reconstitution. Thereafter, the aim was to develop a dynamic model of W′ reconstitution and depletion which could contribute to race planning and tactics leading to improved sporting performance. A repeated ramp test developed for Study 1 to measure the amount of W′ reconstituted following its full depletion was found to produce reliable results for 2-min recoveries at 50 W (ICC ≥ 0.859; TE ≤ 559 J; CV ≤ 9.2%). A slowing of W′ reconstitution following the repeated bout was evident in this and all subsequent studies. Study 2 found that W′ reconstitution after 2-min recovery was related to measures of aerobic fitness such as V̇O2max (r = 0.81) and CP (r = 0.52) in trained cyclists, whilst the reconstitution of W′ was more related to fat mass in untrained participants (r = -0.70). Studies 1 & 2 also demonstrated existing mono-exponential models of W′ balance did not fit the results obtained after 2-min recovery periods. Therefore, Study 3 compared existing mono-exponential models to a bi-exponential model, finding the latter a much superior fit (AICc bi-exponential: 72.2 versus bi-exponential: 30.2) of the temporal profile of W′ reconstitution of trained cyclists. The resultant model demonstrated that W′ comprised distinct fast and slow components that were unrelated to each other. Study 4 assessed the likelihood of a minimum recovery power output beyond which no further improvement in the rate of W′ reconstitution was apparent. Study 5 investigated the effects of different recovery intensities on W′ reconstitution. Fitting the results of the different recovery intensities into the bi-exponential framework of Study 3 allowed a full dynamic model of W′ reconstitution and depletion to be built allowing for both duration and intensity. The model can be customised to an athlete using the known parameters of CP and W′ together with a single additional test session including a 4-min recovery at 85% of CP. The model can be applied in real time for use by cyclists in competition to aid tactical decision making and optimising race performance.
2023-04-01T00:00:00ZPerformance analysis in soccer: A contemporary examination of its role within the coaching process
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/627746
Performance analysis in soccer: A contemporary examination of its role within the coaching process
Mulvenna, Claire
There is a dearth of up-to-date literature scrutinising the experiences of soccer coaches, players and analysts involved in the collection and dissemination of findings from Performance Analysis (Henceforth PA). Given the rapid expanse of PA within soccer in recent years, a comprehensive and contemporary account of how PA is delivered and utilised by coaches appears warranted. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the challenges and opportunities experienced by coaches and analysts in embedding PA within applied soccer environments. Using an interpretivist theoretical framework and qualitative research method, this thesis included three different stages of data collection and analysis. In stage one, data were collected from eight full-time performance analysts working in the English Football League and English National League, exploring the use of PA across the phases of match-play (pre-match, match-day, and post-match). Data collected from semi-structured interviews and reflective thematic analysis identified two higher-order categories (Flying solo / coach control) and four themes classified as lower-order (identifying indicators / PA pragmatism / analysis ingredients / autocratic presentations). Consequently, this study highlighted the types of PA completed by performance analysts is context-specific and dependent on multiple factors (e.g., coach and analyst relationship) which can restrict the value of the PA produced. Consequently, PA appears to be undertaken on a continuum from coach-controlled to analyst-controlled processes, pending what aspects of analysis are used, when in the relationship between analyst and coach the process is developed and when in the matchday process they are carried out.
Stage two of the research investigated PA “in-situ” through a case-study approach. This allowed a contextualised process for the use of PA at half-time to be developed and studied within a soccer academy. Reflective thematic analysis of interviews with the lead coach, assistant coach, head of coach development and six players, both before and after PA was available, highlighted two higher-order themes (Opportunity knocks / Conflict of interest) and four lower-order themes (Supporting current practice / Race to the tech / Prioritising performance / The best before the rest). Meanwhile, reflective thematic analysis of six half-time team teams before and after PA was introduced, generated two higher-order themes (Coach-controlled feedback and evidence informed evaluation) and four lower-order themes (Scouting report / effort and attitude / tactical deconstruction / inspiring individuals). This stage of the research highlighted that within the Elite Player Performance Plan (Henceforth EPPP), the role of the coach, and application of PA, appears complicated and multifaceted despite an enthusiasm expressed by all stakeholders to access PA. (NB the EPPP is the talent identification and development programme initiated by the Premier League in consultation with the Football Association and English Football League [Henceforth EFL] to identify and develop male footballers in England).
In the third stage of the research, twelve coaches were interviewed to identify the ways in which they engage with PA to underpin their coaching practice and utilise the findings to aid player and team development. The data analysis identified two higher-order themes (external auditors and weaponisation of PA) and five lower-order themes (tick in a box, prescription PA, continuous professional denial, collateral damage and exit strategy). The results demonstrate that talent development programmes are complex environments, and several problems were revealed in the manner coaches are prepared for, and subsequently used, PA to support their practice. Despite an enthusiasm from coaches about PA, both a lack of education regarding how best to use PA and the influence of senior coaches within an academy impacted how PA was used. Furthermore, the desire of an academy to win matches, as well as to develop the players perceived to be the ‘best’ and achieve a specific EPPP category status influenced the use of PA.
The empirical findings of this thesis have revealed the complexity experienced when utilising PA within applied coaches’ practice. Despite coaches appearing enthusiastic at the prospect of implementing PA, the use of analysis is highly contextualised and reliant on several cultural and ethical issues including the coach-analyst relationship, coach education regarding the effective context-specific use of PA and the desire of a club to be seen to engage in PA to improve EPPP category status. Consequently, there appears to be several inter-related factors that contribute to PA being used sporadically by coaches within applied soccer environments. Therefore, as individuals and clubs embark upon using PA, an understanding of both the opportunities and challenges of PA should inform the development of the role of the analyst and the way in which PA is used to support coaching practice.
2022-01-01T00:00:00Z