Resumen de Contextual Factors Influencing Physical Activity and Technical Performance in Australian Football League Women's Competition Match-Play

Alana J. Leabeater, Aaron J. Coutts, Anthea C. Clarke, Courtney J. Sullivan

• The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of contextual factors on physical activity and technical match performance during Australian Football League Women's (AFLW) competition match-play. The study was of a retrospective longitudinal design and used physical activity and technical data collected from female Australian Football players (n = 49) from 1 team during 23 AFLW competition games over 3 seasons. A three-level linear mixed model was constructed to investigate the influence of different contextual factors (match-related variables) on relative total distance (TD), relative high-speed running (HSR) distance, and ranking points during AFLW match-play. The results showed that from season 1 to season 3, relative TD increased by 2.0 m[middle dot]min-1 (ES: 0.06 [-0.04 to 0.16], p < 0.05) and relative HSR increased by 4.1 m[middle dot]min-1 (ES: 0.22 [0.14-0.31], p < 0.001). Interstate matches were associated with a reduction of 5.1 m[middle dot]min-1 per match in TD (ES: -0.21 [-0.30 to -0.12], p < 0.001) and 2.5 m[middle dot]min-1 in HSR distance (ES: -0.22 [-0.31 to -0.13], p < 0.001). Total disposals were associated with a 0.23 m[middle dot]minute-1 reduction in HSR for that player (ES: -0.13 [-0.22 to 0.04], p < 0.01). Match margin was the only contextual factor to influence ranking points/min (0.007 AU[middle dot]min-1, ES: 0.30 [0.21-0.38], p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study shows that player physical activity may be reduced during interstate AFLW matches; the average HSR has increased since the start of the AFLW competition and may reflect increasing match activity profiles, and players have a greater rate of accumulation of ranking points when the score difference is greater.