## 4 Discussion
The results obtained in the present study showed improvements in the isometric knee flexion strength (+7.0%) immediately post-match in the non-dominant limb. While no previous study has reported knee flexion strength values in field hockey players, these results differ from previous studies conducted in other intermittent sports, which revealed a lower knee flexion strength post-match-play [19; 44]. The lack of agreement between studies could be related to the different match-play demands of the participants (e.g., total distance covered, duration of match, etc.). While in the current study hockey players reported an average of 5456.50 \(\pm\) 699.09 m total distance covered and 21.59 \(\pm\) 23.66 m at high speeds over 21 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\), previous studies in female soccer players showed they covered distances over 10,000 m during a match (90 min duration), of which at least 600 m were at high speed running intensities [45]. The current results suggest that the effect provoked by field-hockey match-play did not decrease the isometric knee flexion strength in the dominant limb, which has been related to a higher hamstring injury risk in previous studies [46; 47]. The absence of changes in the isometric knee flexion strength can be attributed to the lower distances covered at high running speeds. Extensive research [47] has shown that the hamstring muscles are most active in this phase, when their function is to increase stride frequency and produce a greater horizontal force as the contact time reduces. Given the distances covered in the different zones, it can be assumed that the hamstring muscles are not fatigued as in sports such as soccer, where a greater distance is covered at these intensities. A reduced ROM during the straight leg raise test and dorsiflexion of the ankle ROM has been linked to the risk of hamstring injury [14; 15]. Present results have shown an increase in the straight leg raise ROM levels for the non-dominant limb (+5.81%) and no significant differences in the dominant limb. No differences were seen for the ankle dorsiflexion ROM either for both legs after match-play. To the best of the authors' knowledge, only [PERSON] et al. (2017) analyzed the straight leg raise ROM after match-play on intermittent sports and report no significant differences after match-play [19]. Concerning ankle dorsiflexion ROM, some previous studies conducted in football [24], basketball [25] and Australian-rules football [44] showed different results. While [PERSON] et al. [44] reported reductionsin ankle dorsiflexion ROM immediately after an Australian-rules football match, [PERSON] et al. [19] showed non-significant decrements in football players, and finally [PERSON] et al. [24; 25] in football and basketball observed increased ROM values post-match from pre-match in dominant and non-dominant limbs. While these sports involve the same multidirectional movements (e.g., accelerations, accelerations, changes of direction) during practice, they cannot be compared due to the differences in the characteristics of the sport; for example, the total duration is less in field hockey than other intermittent sports. Thus, increases in hip flexion ROM immediately post-match are likely due to the increase in tissue extensibility induced by temperature increment which leads to a reduction of the viscous resistance of muscle tissues and joints [48; 49]. However, this is a speculation that needs to be elucidated in future studies. As far as isometric hip ADD and ABD strength values and ADD/ABD strength ratio go, the results showed no significant differences between post-match from pre-match. While is difficult to establish comparisons, as no previous study has reported isometric hip ADD and ABD strength values in hockey players, the findings of the current study were similar to those of a previous study [50] conducted with 14 rugby players. However, the present results disagree with the results reported by a previous study in tennis players [23].