Agreement analysis between video observation and an inertial system for recording changes of direction in a soccer task: are they comparable?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v79.117377Keywords:
Team sport , concordance, observational method, microtechnology, movementAbstract
Introduction: Microtechnology has improved the understanding of training and match demands in team sports such as soccer.
Objective: To analyze the agreement between video observation and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) system for detecting changes of direction (COD) during a soccer task.
Methods: sixteen professional players were monitored using WIMU devices (RealTrack Systems, Almería, Spain) and recorded with a drone during an 8 vs 8 task. CODs were classified by angle (0–90° and 90–180°) and direction (left and right). Minimum intensity thresholds (1.0, 0.9, and 0.8 G) and signal smoothing (%S30 and %S40) were used to filter the IMU signal. Pearson correlation coefficients, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and Bland–Altman analyses were performed to assess the association and level of agreement between methods.
Results: Moderate-to-high correlations were found (r = 0.511–0.843), with reliability ranging from low-moderate to high (ICC = 0.61–0.853). Differences between methods were from moderate to large for COD at 0–90° and at 90–180° (d = 1.68–3.1) (p < 0.05).
Discussion: The IMU exhibited limitations in accurately estimating the COD angle, with systematic bias and wide confidence intervals.
Conclusions: The IMU system showed limitations in detecting changes of direction and is not fully interchangeable with the video-based reference method.
References
Alanen, A. M., Räisänen, A. M., Benson, L. C., & Pasanen, K. (2021). The use of inertial measurement units for analyzing change of direction movement in sports: A scoping review. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 16(6), 1332–1353. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211003064
Anguera Argilaga, M. T., Blanco Villaseñor, Ángel, Hernández Mendo, A., & Losada López, J. L. (2011). Diseños Observacionales: Ajuste y aplicación en psicología del deporte. Cuadernos De Psicología Del Deporte, 11(2), 63–76.
Atkinson, G., & Nevill, A. M. (1998). Statistical methods for assessing measurement error (reliability) in variables relevant to sports medicine. Sports Medicine, 26(4), 217–238. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-199826040-00002
Avilés, R., Brito de Souza, D., Pino-Ortega, J., & Castellano, J. (2023a). Agreement, accuracy, and reliability of a new algorithm for the detection of change of direction angle based on integrating inertial data from inertial sensors. Algorithms, 16(11), 496. https://doi.org/10.3390/a16110496
Avilés, R., Souza, D. B., Pino-Ortega, J., & Castellano, J. (2023b). Assessment of a new change-of-direction detection algorithm based on inertial data. Sensors, 23(6), 3095. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23063095
Balloch, A., Meghji, M., Newton, R. U., & Hart, N. (2020). Assessment of a novel algorithm to determine change-of-direction angles while running using inertial sensors. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(12), 3375–3385. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003064
Batterham, A. M., & Hopkins, W. G. (2006). Making meaningful inferences about magnitudes. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 1(1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.1.1.50
Benson, L. C., Tait, T. J., Befus, K., Choi, J., Hillson, C., Stilling, C., Grewal, S., MacDonald, K., Pasanen, K., & Emery, C. A. (2020). Validation of a commercially available inertial measurement unit for recording jump load in youth basketball players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(8), 928–936. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1737360
Bland, J. M., & Altman, D. G. (1986). Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. The Lancet, 327(8476), 307–310.
Bland, J. M., & Altman, D. G. (1999). Measuring agreement in method comparison studies. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 8(2), 135–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/096228029900800204
Bloomfield, J., Polman, R., & O’Donoghue, P. (2007). Physical demands of different positions in FA Premier League soccer. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 6(1), 63–70.
Camomilla, V., Bergamini, E., Fantozzi, S., & Vannozzi, G. (2018). Trends supporting the in-field use of wearable inertial sensors for sport performance evaluation: A systematic review. Sensors, 18(3), 873. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18030873
Casamichana, D., Bradley, P. S., & Castellano, J. (2018). Influence of the varied pitch shape on soccer players’ physiological responses and time–motion characteristics during small-sided games. Journal of Human Kinetics, 64(1), 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1515/hukin-2017-0192
Chambers, R., Gabbett, T. J., Cole, M. H., & Beard, A. (2015). The use of wearable microsensors to quantify sport-specific movements. Sports Medicine, 45(7), 1065–1081. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0332-9
Chaouachi, A., Manzi, V., Chaalali, A., Wong, D. P., Chamari, K., & Castagna, C. (2012). Determinants analysis of change-of-direction ability in elite soccer players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(10), 2667–2676. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e318242f97a
Charlton, P. C., Kenneally-Dabrowski, C., Sheppard, J., & Spratford, W. (2017). A simple method for quantifying jump loads in volleyball athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 20(3), 241–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.07.007
Deutsch, J. P., Donath, L., Braunstein, B., & Rein, R. (2024). Frequency and intensity of changes of direction in German Bundesliga soccer. Science and Medicine in Football, 8(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2024.2439859
Dos’Santos, T., Cowling, I., Challoner, M., Barry, T., & Caldbeck, P. (2022). What are the significant turning demands of match play of an English Premier League soccer team? Journal of Sports Sciences, 40(15), 1750–1759. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2022.2109355
Dos’Santos, T., Thomas, C., Comfort, P., & Jones, P. A. (2018). The effect of angle and velocity on change of direction biomechanics: An angle–velocity trade-off. Sports Medicine, 48(10), 2235–2253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0968-3
Granero-Gil, P., Bastida-Castillo, A., Rojas-Valverde, D., Gómez-Carmona, C. D., De la Cruz Sánchez, E., & Pino-Ortega, J. (2020). Influence of contextual variables in the changes of direction and centripetal force generated during an elite-level soccer team season. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 967. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030967
Kai, T., Hirai, S., Anbe, Y., & Takai, Y. (2021). A new approach to quantify angles and time of changes of direction during soccer matches. PLOS ONE, 16(5), e0251292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251292
Kalman, R. E. (1960). A new approach to linear filtering and prediction problems. Transactions of the ASME – Journal of Basic Engineering, 82(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3662552
Little, T., & Williams, A. G. (2005). Specificity of acceleration, maximum speed, and agility in professional soccer players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(1), 76–78. https://doi.org/10.1519/14253.1
Luinge, H. J., & Veltink, P. H. (2005). Measuring orientation of human body segments using miniature gyroscopes and accelerometers. Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, 43(2), 273–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02345966
Luteberget, L. S., Holme, B. R., & Spencer, M. (2018). Reliability of wearable inertial measurement units to measure physical activity in team handball. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(4), 467–473. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0036
Martínez-Hernández, D., Quinn, M., & Jones, P. (2023). Linear advancing actions followed by deceleration and turn are the most common movements preceding goals in male professional soccer. Science and Medicine in Football, 7(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2022.2030064
MacDonald, K., Bahr, R., Baltich, J., Whittaker, J. L., & Meeuwisse, W. H. (2017). Validation of an inertial measurement unit for the measurement of jump count and height. Physical Therapy in Sport, 25, 15–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2016.12.001
McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276–282.
Meylan, C., Trewin, J., & McKean, K. (2017). Quantifying explosive actions in international women’s soccer. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 12(3), 310–315. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2015-0520
Morgan, O. J., Drust, B., Ade, J. D., & Robinson, M. A. (2022). Change of direction frequency off the ball: New perspectives in elite youth soccer. Science and Medicine in Football, 6(4), 473–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2021.1986635
O’Donoghue, P. (2010). Research methods for sports performance analysis. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203878309
Pillitteri, G., Giustino, V., Petrucci, M., Rossi, A., Leale, I., Bellafiore, M., Thomas, E., Iovane, A., Palma, A., & Battaglia, G. (2023). Match-load physical demands in U-19 professional soccer players assessed by a wearable inertial sensor. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 8(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk8010022
Rampinini, E., Coutts, A. J., Castagna, C., Sassi, R., & Impellizzeri, F. M. (2007). Variation in top level soccer match performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 28(12), 1018–1024. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-965158
Reardon, C., Tobin, D. P., Tierney, P., & Delahunt, E. (2017). Collision count in rugby union: A comparison of microtechnology and video analysis methods. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(20), 2028–2034. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1252051
Reilly, B., Morgan, O., Czanner, G., & Robinson, M. A. (2021). Automated classification of changes of direction in soccer using inertial measurement units. Sensors, 21(14), 4625. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21144625
Robinson, G., & O’Donoghue, P. (2008). A movement classification for the investigation of agility demands and injury risk in sport. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 8(1), 127–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2008.11868428
Sabatini, A. M. (2005). Quaternion-based strap-down integration method for applications of inertial sensing to gait analysis. Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, 43(1), 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02345128
Sabatini, A. M. (2011). Estimating three-dimensional orientation of human body parts by inertial/magnetic sensing. Sensors, 11(2), 1489–1525. https://doi.org/10.3390/s110201489
Sarmento, H., Anguera, M. T., Campaniço, J., & Leitão, J. (2010). Development and validation of a notational system to study the offensive process in football. Medicina (Kaunas), 46(6), 401–407.
Scanlan, A. T., Stanton, R., Sargent, C., O’Grady, C., Lastella, M., & Fox, J. L. (2019). Working overtime: The effects of overtime periods on game demands in basketball players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 14(10), 1331–1337. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2018-0906
Sheppard, J. M., Young, W. B., Doyle, T. L. A., Sheppard, T. A., & Newton, R. U. (2006). An evaluation of a new test of reactive agility and its relationship to sprint speed and change-of-direction speed. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 9(4), 342–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2006.05.019
Svilar, L., Castellano, J., Jukic, I., & Bok, D. (2019). Short-term tapering prior to the match: External and internal load quantification in top-level basketball. Archivos de Medicina del Deporte, 36(5), 288–295.
Szigeti, G., Schuth, G., Revisnyei, P., Pasic, A., Szilas, A., Gabbett, T., & Pavlik, G. (2022). Quantification of training load relative to match load of youth national team soccer players. Sports Health, 14(1), 84–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/19417381211004902
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Roberto Avilés Vicente, José Pino-Ortega, Julen Castellano
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and ensure the magazine the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship of the work and the initial publication in this magazine.
- Authors can establish separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Is allowed and authors are encouraged to disseminate their work electronically (eg, in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as to a subpoena more Early and more of published work (See The Effect of Open Access) (in English).
This journal provides immediate open access to its content (BOAI, http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess) on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The authors may download the papers from the journal website, or will be provided with the PDF version of the article via e-mail.
