Effect of Prior Fatiguing Sport-Specific Exercise on Field Hockey Passing Ability

International audiencePurpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of multiple sets of repeated-sprint ability (RSA) induced fatigue on subsequent passing skill performance among field hockey.Methods: Ten elite U-21 male field hockey players performed five sets of a combination of RSA test (6 × 20 m – 20 s of passive recovery) followed by a 1-min passing skill test (passing reception with subsequent passes at a pre-designed target). Fastest sprint time and cumulated sprint time for RSA test; total number of balls played, targeted and passing accuracy (number of balls targeted / total number of balls played) for passing skill test; heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration ([La-]) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were collected throughout the protocol.Results: RSA performance was significantly impaired from set 1 to set 5 (fastest sprint time: +4.1%, P<0.001; cumulated sprint time: +2.3%, P<0.01). For a similar averaged number of balls played (12.8 ± 1.4) during each set, number of balls targeted (-1.7%, P<0.05) and passing accuracy (-3.1%, P<0.05) decreased up to the third set before re-improving over the last two sets. Psychophysiological responses (HR, [La-] and RPE) progressively increased (P<0.05) towards protocol cessation. The decrease in passing accuracy with increasing RSA cumulated sprint time was fitted to a 2nd order polynomial function (r²=0.94, P