If you scroll through youtube and watch sporting contests from yesryear, one of the first things you’ll likely notice is how slow the game are compared to modern sports.

Not just the athletes’ Speed ​​(or Lack of), but the pace of ball movement.

This is government the game speed of most sports Continues to increase,

Why are sports getting faster?

There is no universal definition of game speed, but it is often measured using metrics such as passing rate, ball Velocity or Average Player Movement Speed ​​During Games.

Increased Passing Rates Can Be Seen When Players Retain the ball for shorter periods Before passing it to a teammate.

Faster Ball and Average Player Speeds Have Been Shown in many Field Sports, Including AFL, soccer and basketball,

Faster Action Followed by Longer Recovery Breaks is the way many sports have evolved over the past few decades,

In National Hockey League Ice Hockey Games, for Example, There Ar Around 300 Player Rotations (Shifts) per team. Shift lengths decreased by 7% to about 45 seconds each during a 10-yar period to 2010 As the game sped up,

Shorter shifts mean higher game Speed ​​Before Players Can Recover on the Bench.

Some Sports deliberately alter rules To increase the game speed and scoring.

Spectators Report a preference for fast action And seem happy to have this interrupted by longer breakes as players catch their breath.

What About Speed ​​in Soccer?

I recently study this phenomenon in world cup soccer matches. I found passing rates and ball speed Were Consistent Increasing For Both men and women over multiple world cup tournaments.

The Study Showed Passing Rates Increased By 19% for Men and 26% For Women Across the Past Nine Tournments. Average Ball Speed ​​Increased by 7% for men and 18% for women over the same time.

It is clear that men’s and women’s Soccer matches are speeding up.

The benefits of fast attacking play

The need for speed is driven by scoring benefits: if a team can move the ball often and with accuracy, this reduces the time for opposition teams to Organize to Organize.

Disorganized defense -structures are easier to penetrate, as gaps open among opposition players.

For example, faster passing rates in basketball have been linked to More Scoring Attempts and Baskets ScoredThis is especially crucial after a turnover, when defenses are epoorly organized.

Faster Play Requires Quick and Precise Decision-Making, Such as perfect timing to move to the best position to receive the ball, or to draw dangerous opposition players away from the order.

This quicker play requires delivering better skills at high speeds, such as catching or trapping the ball on the run. It involves anticipating where to move and when to react with stealth-Like movements.

It also involves green-the ability to reepeat high-ideasity efforts-A fitter player can recover quicker and accumulate less less This can help the athlete Use optimal power and with fewer skill errors.

On top of that, evidence shows Player “Density” Is increasing in many field sports, which bot reduces the time to react and mandates superir skills in the congested player traffic.

Accurate Passing and Precision Timing Through This Crowded Space is essential.

Even moving your own body through clogged space requires agility and power. Because of this, much of the training time for professionals is dedicated to Games on Reduced field space To improve these requirements and to refine decision-making skills.

In Elite Sport, Thos who are efficient in these areas generally remain in the sport while others fall by the way.

Managers in the English Premier League Look for a minimal passing efficiency (Finding a Teammate with Each Pass) of 70%. Less than this can have disastrous consequences for the athlete.

Passing effectiveness is also used heavily in Nfl Quarterback Rating And in the after.

Somemes speed can have its downsides

There are risks with faster play, though.

Moving offensively with speed means the attacking team is also vulneable to counterate Quick movement by the opposition.

So Knowing when to move fast and when to progress more steadily are also key skills and regularly rehearsed.

Another Potential Problem of Higher-Speed ​​Sports is the Relationship to Higher Injury Rates,

Colliding with Opposition Players Involves Increased Kinetic Energy that must be Absorbed by Athletes’ Bodies. This can result in bone fractures and concussion rates that are Elevated with fast impact forces,

Faster running speeds also result in More muscle pulls and strains,

What might this mean for the future?

The increase speed of sports should have several impacts in the future, namely in the talent identification and player recruitment space, and in women’s sports.

Due to gentic constraints, Athletes generally can’t Improve their speed As Easily as other physical attributes like Endures or Strength. This means recruits are likely to prioritize fast athletes in a spiraling pace race.

In some sports, including our Soccer study, the speed of women’s sport was found to be Increasing at a faster rate than men’s.

Over a comparatively short history of professional sport, women have demonstrated dramaatic and impressive gains. This may mean speed and style of women’s sports will increase the speed and style of the men’s games.

This article is republished from The conversation Under a Creative Commons License. Read the original article,