Field Hockey Drag Flicking Analysis in Junior Age Grade Groups

The thesis in its entirety aims investigate the factors which affect drag-flick performance in field-hockey. The thesis is made up of 6 main chapters which introduces the reader to hockey with a general introduction, which is followed by a scoping review of the already available literature into the skill of drag-flicking. Furthermore, a short narrative review of Output sports/Shimmer 3 inertial measurement units, as this was the tool which we had planned to use throughout the course of our research project. Further pilot work was undertaken during chapter 3 investigating the use of these IMUs. This is followed by two separate empirical studies that were undertaken. Study one investigated the accuracy of the IMU for capturing peak velocity of both the stick and right-hand wrist velocity during the drag-flick, comparing the results to the CODA motion analysis system which was deemed as a gold-standard motion capturing device. The second study investigates the relationship between peak stick, wrist velocity and physical attributes on ball velocity. The 6th and final chapter consists of a summary and conclusions of the chapters, and highlights the key areas for practitioners for the enhancement of drag-flick performance in field hockey.