Physical and Technical Demands and Preparatory Strategies in Female Field Collision Sports: A Scoping Review

Kathryn Dane, Ciaran Simms, Sharief Hendricks, Stephen W. West, Steffan Griffin, Frank J. Nugent, Garreth Farrell, David Mockler, Fiona Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Women's participation in field collision sports is growing worldwide. Scoping reviews provide an overview of scientific literature in a developing area to support practitioners, policy, and research priorities. Our aim is to explore published research and synthesise information on the physical and technical demands and preparation strategies of female field collision sports. We searched four databases and identified relevant published studies. Data were extracted to form (1) a numerical analysis and (2) thematic summary. Of 2318 records identified, 43 studies met the inclusion criteria. Physical demands were the most highly investigated (n+=+24), followed by technical demands (n+= 18), tactical considerations (n+=+8) and preparatory strategies (n=1). The key themes embody a holistic model contributing to both performance and injury prevention outcomes in the context of female field collision sports. Findings suggest a gender data gap across all themes and a low evidence base to inform those preparing female athletes for match demands. Given the physical and technical differences in match-demands the review findings do not support the generalisation of male-derived training data to female athletes. To support key stakeholders working within female field collision sports there is a need to increase the visibility of female athletes in the literature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1173-1182
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume43
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • female athlete
  • field collision sport
  • match-demands
  • physical preparation
  • technical skill

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