Physiological responses of water-polo players under different tactical strategies

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of defense tactical strategy on physiological responses characterizing playing intensity in water-polo game. in the first part of the study,fourteen players were assigned to defending (n = 7) and offending (n = 7) groups and participated in nine 4-min plays applying three different defending systems: press,static-zone and zone-press,in front of the defense court of one goalpost. in the second part,18 players participated in nine different real full court water-polo games consisting of 3x15min of live-time playing periods. both in defense court plays and real games,the three defense systems were played in a counterbalanced order and heart rate (hr) was continuously recorded. additionally,in defense court plays,blood lactate concentration (la) was measured at the end of each 4-min period. mean hr within defense court plays was higher in press (153 ± 10 beats.min−1) than in static-zone (140 ± 11 beats.min−1) and zone-press (143 ± 16 beats.min−1,p < 0.01). furthermore,shorter amount of playing time was spent with hr ≤85% of hr peak in press (46.3 ± 22.8%) than in static-zone (81.8 ± 20.5%) and zone-press (75.7 ± 32.0%,p < 0.01). likewise,mean la was higher in press (6.5±2.9 mmol.l−1) than in static-zone (4.7 ± 2.5 mmol.l−1) and zone-press (4.6 ± 1.8 mmol.l−1,p < 0.01). in real games,however,mean hr was similar between tactical strategies (p > 0.05). defenders and offenders showed similar hr and la responses across the tactical modes. in conclusion,defense tactical strategies affect physiological responses within a part of the game but do not affect the overall playing intensity of a real water-polo game. tactical strategies similarly affect offenders and defenders. © 2014,journal of sports science and medicine.