Rink hockey “Ok-XS”. Motor behavior effects of scaling games in U8 players

Abstract

In rink hockey, it is not usual to find proposals of mini-hockey in early competition. This study aimed to analyse the effect of the manipulation of court dimensions and the number of participants on the motor behavior of players. Twenty-four rink hockey players (three girls and 21 boys; age: 7.1 ± 0.4 years) U8 category participated in this study. Three types of 3-min games were played twice, with 3-min breaks, following a random order: i) Four versus four (plus goalkeeper) on an official pitch (40 × 20 m); ii) Four versus four (plus goalkeeper) on a rink measuring 20 × 13 m, and iii) Two versus two (plus goalkeeper) on a court measuring 20 × 10 m. All games were video-recorded and a systematic observation instrument was used to register the actions using the Lince PLUS observation tool (v.1.2.0-2020). The individual technical-tactical behavioral variables of the court players were analysed, considering: (a) actions without the ball; (b) actions with the ball; and (c) final phase of ball possession. Statistical analysis was performed based on the Generalized Mixed Poisson Model. The results revealed that total actions were increased in both scaling situations compared to situation 1 in which young rink hockey players officially compete (S1 vs. S3; p <.001; Odds Ratio (OR) = 2,12) (S1 vs. S2; p <.001; Odds Ratio (OR) = 1,48). The results revealed that in small-sided games more affordances emerge concerning the official rules. The data obtained suggest that competition at this age on an official court (40 × 20 m) is not recommended for development of the variety of the set of individual technical-tactical behaviors.