Affiliation:
1. Applied Sport Science and Exercise Testing Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, Australia;
2. Active Living and Learning Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia; and
3. School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Australia
Abstract
Abstract
Flannery, L, Secomb, JL, West, MA, Compton, HR, and Dascombe, BJ. The strength and power profile of junior and senior female rugby league athletes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2024—The purpose of this study was to compare the lower-body strength and power profiles of the various female rugby league (RL) competition levels, thereby establishing normative data for these athletes. Seventy-nine female RL athletes from 3 different competition levels: junior-state (n = 45, age: 17.5 ± 0.6 years), senior-state (n = 15, age: 24.3 ± 3.7 years), and senior-national (n = 19, age: 25.4 ± 4.0 years) participated in this study. All testing was completed in a single session at the beginning of preseason, with the following assessments performed: countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), and bilateral and unilateral isometric hip adduction and abduction strength. One-way analyses of variance with Bonferroni post hoc analyses, revealed that junior-state athletes exhibited significantly lower IMTP peak force (PF) and relative PF (rPF), and CMJ height compared with the senior-state and senior-national athletes. Importantly, senior-national athletes demonstrated significantly greater body mass (80.9 ± 14.6 kg) than senior-state athletes (70.9 ± 8.1 kg), but no significant differences were identified between these athletes for any IMTP or CMJ measure. Finally, the senior-national athletes possessed significantly lower unilateral hip adduction rPF (0.13 ± 0.04 N·BW−1) and adduction to abduction strength ratio (0.92 ± 0.14) than senior-state athletes (0.17 ± 0.03 N·BW−1 and 1.04 ± 0.13, respectively), which may have implications for noncontact lower-body injury risk. This study highlights the importance of practitioners prescribing training to increase the lower-body strength and power of junior-state RL athletes. Whereas, for senior-state athletes progressing to senior-national levels, the focus should on maintaining or improving relative strength and power, while increasing their body mass to enhance preparedness for the greater contact demands at that level.
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Reference38 articles.
1. Differences in strength and power among junior-high, senior-high, college-aged, and elite professional rugby league players;Baker;J Strength Cond Res,2002
2. The relation between strength and power in professional rugby league players;Baker;J Strength Cond Res,1999
3. Is training age predictive of physiological performance changes in developmental rugby league players? A prospective longitudinal study;Booth;Int J Sports Sci Coach,2020
4. Pre-season hip/groin strength and HAGOS scores are associated with subsequent injury in professional soccer players;Bourne;J Sci Med Sport,2019
5. Strength and biomechanical risk factors for noncontact ACL injury in elite female footballers: A prospective study;Collings;Med Sci Sports Exerc,2022