# Physical Movement Demands of Training and Matches across a Full Competition Cycle in Elite Netball
## 1 Introduction  
A well-structured, periodised training program enhances physiological qualities of the athlete through a balanced exposure to stimuli, whilst managing stress and fatigue, with the aim of improving athletic performance [1]. Teams often employ thoroughly considered regimes involving variations in loading and recovery across different facets of physical and skill development preparation, in order to periodise their programmes [2]. Elite team sports such as rugby [3], basketball [4], and Australian football [5] have demonstrated the changes in external load demands that occur in different phases of a competitive season. The capacity to monitor the physical movement demands of elite netballers during training and competition in indoor environments has improved in recent years, predominantly due to advances in technology. Wearable devices and local positioning systems (LPS) enable outcomes such as accelerometer-derived load (e.g., PlayerLoad) and more recently, spatiotemporal outcomes (e.g., distances covered) to be collected during training and competition [6; 7]. Currently, there is a scarcity of published data relating to the physical movement demands across the entire netball season, which limits the understanding of the stimuli imposed on these athletes. Accelerometer-derived variables (e.g., PlayerLoad) have been used to explore the physical movement demands in netballers [8; 9]. These studies revealed new insights into the movement of netballers and demonstrated that the use of movement-tracking sensors (i.e., accelerometers) allows for the simultaneous collection of objective training load data across a netball squad in an indoor environment [8; 9]. However, these early studies recruited participants from sub-elite cohorts and focused on differentiating between netballers of different skill-levels [9], or used a small sample of in-season training and competition (4 matches and 15 training sessions) [8]. Two later studies have provided measures of workload over the course of an elite netball season [6; 10]. [PERSON] et al. [6] were the first to use accelerometer-derived measures of physical movement demands across the whole regular-season timeframe with an elite squad of netballers. Unfortunately, no pre-season training or pre-season competition data were included in their analyses [6]. While the study showed some informative comparisons of activity profiles between netball positions, the reported values are not directly comparable to values shown in this or other published studies [7; 8; 9]. This disparity in values may be a result of inconsistencies in definitions and application of the PlayerLoad algorithm in the literature [11]. Another recent study investigated the relationships between external and internal workload variables in elite netball using an extensive data collection period covering the entire pre-season and regular-season [10]. The findings of this correlational analysis identified a number of strong positive relationships that exist between measures of internal workload (heart rate indices, session-rating of perceived exertion) and accelerometer-derived external workload measures [10]. This supports the value of accelerometer-derived measures such as PlayerLoad in netball, as this external measure of load may be useful to infer internal physiological stress. However, the descriptive data for each session type (training/competition) or season phase (pre-season/in-season) were not presented, which precludes its use for the purposes of quantifying specific movement demands or season workload planning. [PERSON] et al. [12] were the first to use a LPS in netball, employing radio-frequency tracking to assess the recurring sequences of movement in elite netball match-play. The evolution of LPS technology in sport has moved toward the use of ultra-wideband communication methods [13], as this improves signal stability and may reduce interference when compared to traditional radio-frequency signal communications [14].