Footy slow down protects players
by
Geraldine Hinter
A proposed change to Australian Football League rules to “limit the
time spent before the ball is brought back into play after a behind is
kicked” would reduce the game speed by about 1.5 per cent when compared
with current AFL games, a UniSA study has found.
The study has been undertaken for the AFL, which is considering the rule change to slow the game speed, because research shows that faster games lead to increased potential for serious player injuries, according to Dr Kevin Norton, Professor of Exercise Science at UniSA’s School of Health Sciences.
“Studies on the physics of AFL football show that player speed has increased by about 1.5 per cent each year since 1998 and there is little to indicate that it is levelling off. We also found that the total number of scoring shots (and behinds) generally increases as the game speed increases. When there are more and/or longer breaks in play, the players have more time to recover, enabling them to keep their speed and the game speed high,” Prof Norton said.
UniSA researchers used modelling techniques to determine the impact of the new rule by setting a maximum time of 15 seconds before a player must bring the ball back into play after a behind is scored. This is slightly less than the current average time taken of 18 seconds and is significantly less than the longest time limit (up to 35 seconds) allowed to bring the ball back into play.
“If we increase the game speed by allowing less rest after a behind is scored, players will get fatigued earlier in each quarter, the total number of scoring shots in the game on average will also decrease in proportion, and the number of serious collisions should be reduced by the lower impact and running speeds of fatigued players. And with rest periods decreasing, the game would finish three to four minutes earlier,” Prof Norton said.
“The average effect of the rule change would be a slower game speed, which reduces the evolution of the current game speed by the equivalent of about one to two years.”