Movement patterns in tag football: Influence of playing position, representative selection and fatigue

This study investigated the physical demands of male and female tag football players, stratified by playing position and representative selection. Global positioning systems provided data on 98 playing appearances during the 2013 Queensland State Cup. Players covered 97 m/min (men’s) and 91 m/min (women’s) over ~23 min of on-field playing time. High-speed running (HSR) accounted for 15% (men’s) and 13% (women’s) of total distance and there were regular changes in running tempo in men’s and women’s matches (1 acceleration >1 m. s-2 every 10-11 s). Selected players covered greater distance (men ES=0.72, p=0.145; women ES=1.06, p=0.002), performed more HSR efforts (men ES=0.73, p=0.085; women ES=1.20, p=0.001) and reached higher running speeds (men ES=0.65, p=0.033; women ES=0.53, p=0.092) than non-selected players. Positional groups showed meaningful differences for very high-intensity running (VHI) distance (men ES=0.56-1.26; women ES=0.53-0.83), frequency of VHI efforts (men ES=0.45-0.97; women ES=0.51-0.98) and maximum running speeds (men ES=0.54-1.35; women ES=0.08-0.69). This study found repeated high-intensity running, change of direction and sprinting performance to be important physical qualities of successful tag football players. Importantly however, the high-intensity movement demands of tag football were found to be dependent on playing position and training should be individualised accordingly.