Validity and reliability of GPS units to monitor cricket-specific movement patterns.
OBJECTIVE
The validity and reliability of three commercial global positioning system (GPS) units (MinimaxX, Catapult, Australia; SPI-10, SPI-Pro, GPSports, Australia) were quantified.


METHODS
Twenty trials of cricket-specific locomotion patterns and distances (walking 8800 m, jogging 2400 m, running 1200 m, striding 600 m, sprinting 20- to 40-m intervals, and run-a-three) were compared against criterion measures (400-m athletic track, electronic timing). Validity was quantified with the standard error of the estimate (SEE) and reliability estimated using typical error expressed as a coefficient of variation.


RESULTS
The validity (mean +/- 90% confidence limits) for locomotion patterns walking to striding ranged from 0.4 +/- 0.1 to 3.8 +/- 1.4%, whereas for sprinting distances over 20 to 40 m including run-a-three (approx. 50 m) the SEE ranged from 2.6 +/- 1.0 to 23.8 +/- 8.8%. The reliability (expressed as mean [90% confidence limits]) of estimating distance traveled by walking to striding ranged from 0.3 (0.2 to 0.4) to 2.9% (2.3 to 4.0). Similarly, mean reliability of estimating different sprinting distances over 20 to 40 m ranged from 2.0 (1.6 to 2.8) to 30.0% (23.2 to 43.3).


CONCLUSIONS
The accuracy and bias was dependent on the GPS brand employed. Commercially available GPS units have acceptable validity and reliability for estimating longer distances (600-8800 m) in walking to striding, but require further development for shorter cricket-specific sprinting distances.
Petersen
Carl
C
Physiology Department, Australian Institute of Sport, Belconnen, ACT, Australia.
Pyne
David
D
Portus
Marc
M
Dawson
Brian
B
D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis