Eijwoudt, SAndrews, TMcErlain-Naylor, SAStewart, TSpencer, K2024-02-072024-02-072023-11-20Journal of Sports Sciences, ISSN: 0264-0414 (Print); 1466-447X (Online), Informa UK Limited, 41(16), 1573-1579. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2023.22836610264-04141466-447Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/17196Differences in workload exist between netball playing positions and competition levels, but no research has compared workloads experienced by the same elite players during national and international competitions. This study collected internal (heart rate) and external (PlayerLoad·min−1) workload data per match quarter from 44 players during a national competition and 12 players during an international competition. Nine players played in both competitions. Linear mixed models compared percentage of match quarter in each heart rate zone and PlayerLoad·min−1 between competitions for each playing position. Workloads against low- and high-ranked international opponents were also compared. Internal workloads were greater in national compared to international competition for GD and WD positions. PlayerLoad·min−1 was significantly higher by 8–13% in the national competition for positions WD and C, and by 5–8% in the international competition for GD and GA. Positional differences may indicate a role of the team’s tactical style of play. Workloads were generally greater against higher- rather than lower-ranked international opponents. These results indicate that tactical factors in combination with playing position and opposition characteristics should be considered when preparing physically for matches.© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Netballheart rateinternationaltraining loadworkload32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences5201 Applied and Developmental Psychology42 Health Sciences3202 Clinical Sciences4207 Sports Science and Exercise52 Psychology1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences1302 Curriculum and PedagogySport Sciences3202 Clinical sciences4207 Sports science and exercise5201 Applied and developmental psychologyHumansBasketballWorkloadAthletic PerformanceHeart RateLinear ModelsHumansLinear ModelsHeart RateBasketballWorkloadAthletic PerformanceHumansBasketballWorkloadAthletic PerformanceHeart RateLinear ModelsJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1080/02640414.2023.2283661