Horizontal mechanical power intro

Approaches and level of analysis of the physical demonstration of professional soccer players. Level 8 (part 1).

After a too long break due to professional work density ... we continue with the next level of of analysis and approaches of the physical demonstration of professional soccer players.

In this new level, we introduce the horizontal mechanical power approach. Nowadays, we see how sport science and professionals are trying to develop their own approaches in order to analyze the activity of players during training and games, using different metrics and ways of using them ...
Using the proposed intermittent approach, the selection of the basic parameter to obtain the intensity of the player's activity is a key factor. This intensity has been traditionally analyzed using HR first, then speed, impacts (from triaxial accelerometer data) and lately metabolic power approach. As the HR gives us just the cardiovascular intensity, related of course with the metabolic exertion, and the speed don't take in account the great importance that acceleration has, it seems that the metabolic power approach offer a step forward for measuring the intensity of the player (using speed and acceleration to obtain a metabolic measure), knowing that there exist some points that could be argued against.

But analyzing the actions that the players perform during games and training sessions, and also relating them to some sort of injuries and overloads they suffer, we should introduce some sort of metric that when detecting actions, it takes into account the decelerations produced by the players.
As we have seen in some previous posts, using metabolic power data for detecting actions, let the deceleration out of the action phase. Logical, done that it measures the metabolic intensity, that in decelerations are low. But we all know that decelerations are an important source of mechanic overload (muscle, tendons and articulations ...), and frequently related with some injuries.
Appart from that, we have been analyzing the importance of the relationship between speed and acc-dec value demonstrated by the player in order to correctly "weight" the intensity of this parts of an sprint, that actually it's not been taken in account yet ...

So with all this in mind, we introduce today (and in the next posts) some info about the horizontal mechanical power approach, authors, and later some graphics.

Hope you enjoy,