Open AccessEffects of Altering the Number of Players and the Dimensions of the Playing Area on the Possession Characteristics in Youth Australian Football
Author(s) -
Shane Pill,
Sam Elliott
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sport science review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2069-7244
pISSN - 2066-8732
DOI - 10.1515/ssr-2015-0014
Subject(s) - possession (linguistics) , football , football players , game play , period (music) , psychology , advertising , applied psychology , computer science , multimedia , geography , business , art , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , aesthetics
This research compared the effects of altering the number of players and the dimensions of the playing area on the possession characteristics in youth (under-14) Australian football. A modified ‘small sided game’ (SSG) 12-a-side version was compared to the full field ‘adult’ 18-a-side game. Games were video recorded and the possession characteristics later coded using the Dartfish Easy Tag program. It was found that the additional players in the 18-a-side version led on average to more tagged events (technical actions) per 18 minute period of play; however, there was a decrease in the number of tagged events per player. It was also observed that there were more scoring actions in the SSG 12-a-side game play than in the 18-a-side. The SSG 12-a-side version provided more technical actions per player in each play period and so it is suggested that it constructs a better educational experience, and therefore game development, than the 18-a-side game recommended for Australian football from under-11.