High-speed running (HSR)

High-speed running is the distance a player covers above a set speed threshold. In Metric Athlete the default threshold is 2.5 m/s (9.0 km/h).

Category
Distance
Unit
Metres (m)

How it is calculated

HSR distance = Σ distance where speed > HSR threshold

The app adds up the distance covered at every moment the player's speed was above the HSR threshold.

HSR includes sprint distance: anything above the sprint threshold is also above the HSR threshold.

The default is the Senior preset. Age-group presets from U6 to U21 use lower speeds, and staff can switch a team to percentage-of-max mode, where HSR starts at 55% of each player's own top speed.

How to read it

HSR shows how much of a session was run at speed. Watch it alongside sprint distance and total distance: two sessions can cover the same ground with very different amounts of fast running.

One player's speed, minutes 32 to 40

Speed summary for the example window
Top speed30.4 km/h
Seconds above the sprint threshold (15.8 km/h)15
Example data, not real player data.

Where you see it in the app

Metric Athlete session players table: distance, high-speed running, high-speed share, sprint distance, top speed and Player Load for each player, with one player's numbers against the squad average.
The coach web app, shown with example data. Not real players.

Questions

Why is the HSR threshold lower for youth teams?

Younger players run slower in absolute terms. The age-group presets lower the speed thresholds so that high-speed running means the same effort for a U12 as for a senior player.

References

  1. Harley JA, Barnes CA, Portas M, et al. (2010). Motion analysis of match-play in elite U12 to U16 age-group soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(13), 1391–1397.
  2. Read DB, Jones B, Williams S, et al. (2018). The physical characteristics of specific phases of play during rugby union match play. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(10), 1331–1336.
  3. Buchheit M (2014). Monitoring training status with HR measures: do all roads lead to Rome? Frontiers in Physiology, 5, 73.

Next in Distance

Sprint distance
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