Players\u2019 displacements in elite female volleyball matches: comparison between playing positions

Abstract This study aimed to analyse the characteristics of selected typical displacements occurring during match play in elite female volleyball players. One quarterfinal of the Serie A female Italy\u2019s Cup was examined. One set for each of the two teams was analysed. The SIMI Motion Software was used to evaluate the movement of players on the playing surface area (2D). 14 players were tracked using the C7 vertebra as a reference point for the player\u2019s body. A total of 27169 players\u2019 positions were digitised. The examined displacements were those performed when doing the following actions: blocking, defensively exiting from blocking, moving to defend, preparing the spike run-up, doing the spike run-up with and without spiking, covering, receiving. The intra- and interoperatory reliability were assessed using 5% of all digitised points. The mean \ub1 SD intraand inter-operator errors were, respectively, 0.029\ub1.017 and .024\ub1.016 m, then consistent with the previous literature (J\ue4ger et al., 2007). The statistical analysis revealed the following significant (p