Modelling of technical and tactical actions in competitive sprint activity of elite cross-country skiers (the case of Olympics 2010 and 2014)
Фотографии:
ˑ:
Postgraduate S.S. Dubrovinskiy
Ph.D., Professor A.G. Batalov
Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism (GTsOLIFK), Moscow
Keywords: technique, tactics, modeling, cross-country skiers, technical and tactical skills.
Introduction
It is the modern development trends in sport skiing including the emergence of new disciplines like individual/ team sprint skiing and skiathlon and the rapidly growing number of competitions on the skiing calendar that call forth changes in the cross-country skiers’ training systems. At the modern development stage of sport skiing when physical fitness of elite athletes appears to have reached its natural limit it is the tactical skills designed to efficiently employ top fitness that play a decisive role in competitions. It is not unusual that the sprint race winners nowadays are determined by photofinish and this fact is indicative of the fairly close functional and physical fitness levels of the contenders competing for the prizes. In the situation when the individual skills and qualities are so close, it is individual technical and tactical skills and their performance models that come to the forefront of the training process.
The purpose of the study was to develop criteria for the technical and tactical skill performance models applicable to individual sprint skiing races.
Materials and methods
Subject to our analysis designed to generate technical and tactical skill performance models of individual ski sprint races were the individual performance data reports of 24 elite male and female skiers qualified for the final ski races of the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games (OG). We processed 16 official reports of the competitions, 96 individual performance reports and 4-hour video records. The average race speeds achieved by the top competitors in the final races and the performance data variation trends were subject to our analysis during reported data processing. Furthermore, the video records were used to analyze the kinematic data for the individual sprint skiing disciplines at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games. It should be noted that the individual sprint skiing races at the OG-2010 were performed using the classic skiing style (C), whilst at the OG-2014 using the free (skate) skiing style.
The technical and tactical skill performance data of the sprint race finalists under the study refer to the following three sections of the race distance: starting, mid-distance and finishing section.
Study results and discussion
Our study of the tournament distance speed profiles and the performance data variation trends for the finalists of the competitions show that the “slowest” were the following OG-2010/ 2014 finals: men’s finals (6.82 ±0.68 m/s at the OG-2010 and 7.26 ±5.29 m/s at the OG-2014) and the women’s finals (6.25 ±0.13 m/s at the OG-2010 and 8.18 ±0.3 m/s at the OG-2014).
The highest distance speed at the OG-2010 was fixed in the men’s semifinal race (7.41 ±0.02 m/s) and in the women’s quarterfinal race (6.4 ±0.08 m/s). At the OG-2014, the highest speed was achieved in the qualification race both by the male (8.53 ±0.04 m/s) and female (8.43 ±0.01 m/s) finalists.
It was further found by the study that the average group movement frequency rates at the OG-2010 were on the rise from the quarterfinals to finals and reached the top levels in the final races (1.21 ±0.07 cycles/s for the women; and 1.14 ±0.01 cycles/ s for the men). At the OG-2014, the average group movement frequency rates in the women’s ski races reached their peaking values in the semifinals (0.78 ±0.06 cycles/s), whilst in the men’s races they were the highest in the quarterfinal race (0.76 ±0.09 cycles/s).
At the OG-2010, the race style switchovers averaged 10-12 times for male and 9-11 times for female racers. At the OG-2014, the race style switchovers averaged 11-15 times for men and 9-13 times for women.
Furthermore, we analyzed the individual race control model indicators for the winners of the OG-2010/14 (Table 1 hereunder).
Table 1. Technical and tactical performance indicators of the 2010/14 Olympic Games winners
|
Final race results |
OG-2010 (Classic style) |
OG-2014 (Free skate style) |
||
|
men |
women |
men |
women |
|
|
Speed, m/s |
7,38 |
6,38 |
8,24 |
8,36 |
|
Movement frequency rate, cycles per second |
1,47 |
1,08 |
0,71 |
0,71 |
|
Skiing style switchovers, times |
10 |
12 |
13 |
12 |
|
Race tactics |
pursuit |
pursuit |
lead |
lead |
Marit Bjoergen, the OG-2010 women’s cross country skiing champion, opted for the lead tactics in the quarterfinal and semifinal races from the start to the finish, but then turned to pursuit tactics in the final race (Table 2). Her distance speed in the final was estimated at 6.38 m/s, compared to the highest speed of 6.58 m/s in the quarterfinal (Figure 1). She switched over the skiing styles most of all in the final race (12 times, Figure 2), and her movement frequency rate in the finishing section made up 1.08 cycles/s (Figure 3), the data referring to the kick-double-pole technique of the classic stride.
Table 2. Race position log: Marit Bjoergen, the OG-2010 champion
|
|
½ final |
¼ final |
Final |
|
Start |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
1st rise |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
2nd rise |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
Finish |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Figure 1. Tournament distance speeds in the OG-2010 women’s skiing finals
Figure 2. Skiing style switchovers (times) in the OG-2010 women’s skiing finals
Figure 3. Movement frequency rates (cycles per second) on distance in the OG-2010 women’s skiing finals
Nikita Kriukov, the OG-2010 men’s ski race winner, opted for the pursuit tactics in every final race (Table 3 hereunder). His distance speed in the few final races was estimated at 7.38 m/s, with the top speed of 7.44 m/s achieved in the final race (Figure 4). The skiing style was switched over most of all (10 times) in the final race (Figure 5). The movement frequency rate in the finishing section made up 1.47 cycles/s (Figure 6), the data referring to the kick-double-pole technique of the classic stride.
Table 3. Race position log: Nikita Kriukov, the OG-2010 champion
|
|
½ final |
¼ final |
Final |
|
Start |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
1st rise |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
2nd rise |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Finish |
2 |
3 |
1 |
Figure 4. Tournament distance speeds in the OG-2010 men’s skiing finals
Figure 5. Skiing style switchovers (times) in the OG-2010 men’s skiing finals: ¼ final, ½ final, final
Figure 6. Movement frequency rates (cycles per second) on distance in the OG-2010 men’s skiing final (Nikita Kriukov, OG-2010 champion)
Maiken Falla, the OG-2014 women’s cross-country skiing champion, opted for the lead tactics in every race (Table 4) and switched over the skiing styles 12-13 times on the distance (Figure 7). Her distance speed in the final race was estimated at 8.36 m/s (Figure 8), and the movement frequency rate on the finishing span made up as much as 0.71 cycles/ s (Figure 9) that is attributable to the kick-double-pole technique of the skate skiing style that dominated in her race technique.
Table 4. Race position log: M. Falla, the OG-2014 champion
|
|
½ final |
¼ final |
Final |
|
Start |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
1st rise |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
2nd rise |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Finish |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Figure 7. Tournament distance speeds in the OG-2014 women’s skiing finals
Figure 8. Skiing style switchovers (times) in the OG-2014 women’s skiing finals
Figure 9. Movement frequency rates (cycles per second) on distance in the OG-2014 women’s skiing final (M. Falla, OG-2014 champion)
Ola Vigen Hattestad, the OG-2014 women’s cross-country skiing champion, opted for the pursuit race tactics in every final race (Table 5 hereunder), and switched over the skiing style only 10-13 times for the race (Figure 10). Her distance speed in the final was estimated at 8.24 m/s (Figure 11), and the movement frequency rate in the finishing section made up 0.71 cycles/s (Figure 12), the data referring to the kick-double-pole technique of the classic skiing style.
Table 5. Race position log: Ola Vigen Hattestad, the OG-2014 champion
|
|
½ final |
¼ final |
Final |
|
Start |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
1st rise |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
2nd rise |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Finish |
1 |
1 |
|
Figure 10. Tournament distance speeds in the OG-2014 women’s skiing finals
Figure 11. Skiing style switchovers (times) in the OG-2014 women’s skiing finals
Figure 12. Movement frequency rates (cycles per second) on distance in the OG-2014 women’s skiing final (Ola Vigen Hattestad, OG-2014 champion)
Conclusion
Having studied the technical and tactical performance profiles of the individual cross-country sprint skiing race winners at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games, we would offer the following race control models:
Model 1 assumes the lead race tactics from the start to the finish with the relatively constant and high speeds being maintained on distance in every final race, with the skiing style being switched over 12-14 times and the movement frequency rate in the finishing part of the distance coming to 0.71 cycles/s for women and men, the data referring to the free (skating) style.
Model 2 assumes the pursuit race tactics with the race speed being stepped up in the finishing part of the distance, the skiing style being switched over 10-12 times and the movement frequency rate in the finishing section coming to 1.08 cycles/s for women and 1.47 cycles/s for men, the data referring to the classic skiing style.
References
- Batalov A.G. Model'no-tselevoy sposob postroeniya sportivnoy podgotovki vysokokvalifitsirovannykh sportsmenov v zimnikh tsiklicheskikh vidakh sporta (stat'ya vtoraya) (Model-targeted training planning method in professional winter cyclic sports (Paper 2) / A.G. Batalov // Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. – 2001. – № 2. – P. 8–13.
- Geraskin K.M. Spetsifika realizatsii tekhniko-takticheskoy podgotovlennosti lyzhnikov-gonshchikov v sorevnovatel'noy deyatel'nosti: avtoref. dis. ... kand. ped. nauk (Technical and tactical skills competitive implementation in cross-country skiing: abstract of PhD thesis) / K.M. Geraskin. – Moscow, 2010.
- Sidelev P.A. Osobennosti sorevnovatel'noy deyatel'nosti i faktory, opredelyayushchie dostizhenie vysokogo rezul'tata v lyzhnom sprinte (Features of competitive activity and determinants of excellent performance in ski sprint) / P.A. Sidelev, A.G. Batalov // Mater. Vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf. «Aktual'nye voprosy podgotovki lyzhnikov-gonshchikov vysokoy kvalifikatsii» (Proc. of Rus. res.-practical conf. "Actual issues of elite cross-country skier training). – Smolensk, 2012. – P. 144-148.
Corresponding author: oxbow2004@mail.ru
