Acute physiological and perceptual responses to a netball specific training session in professional female netball players.

The 24 h responses to professional female netball-specific training were examined. British Superleague players (n = 14) undertook a 90-min on-court training session incorporating key movement, technical, and scenario-specific match-play drills. Perceptual (mood, fatigue, soreness), neuromuscular (countermovement jump peak power output [PPO], PPO relative to mass [PPOrel], jump height [JH]), endocrine (salivary cortisol [C], testosterone [T] concentrations) and biochemical (creatine kinase concentrations [CK]) markers were assessed at baseline (immediately before; Pre), and immediately, two and 24 hours after (+0h, +2h, +24h) training. Session (sRPE) and differential (dRPE) ratings of perceived exertion were recorded at +0h. Identification of clear between time-point differences were based on the 95% confidence interval (CI) for mean differences relative to baseline values not overlapping. At +0h, C (raw unit mean difference from baseline; 95% CI: 0.16; 0.06 to 0.25 µg·dl-1), T (32; 20 to 45 pg⋅ml-1), CK (39; 28 to 50 u·L-1), PPOrel (2.4; 0.9 to 3.9 W·kg-1) and PPO (169; 52 to 286 W) increased. At +2h, fatigue (15; 7 to 24 AU), CK (49; 38 to 60 u·L-1), and soreness (14; 3 to 25 AU) increased, while T (-24; -37 to -11 pg⋅ml-1) and mood (-20; -27 to -12 AU) reduced. At +24h, CK increased (25; 13 to 36 u·L-1) whereas PPOrel (-1.6; -3.2 to -0.1 W·kg-1) and JH (-0.02; -0.03 to -0.08 m) reduced. Responses were variable specific, and recovery of all variables did not occur within 24h. The residual effects of the prior stimulus should be accounted for in the planning of training for professional female netball players.

The neuromuscular, physiological, endocrine and perceptual responses to different training session orders in international female netball players.

AbstractThe 20 h responses of International female netball players to training days requiring two sessions (netball and strength, separated by two hours) ordered alternatively were examined. Eleven players completed strength followed by netball training two hours later (STR-NET), with the order reversed (NET-STR) on a separate day. Well-being, neuromuscular performance (jump height [JH], peak power output [PPO], peak velocity [PV]) and endocrine function (testosterone, cortisol concentrations) were measured before sessions one (PreS1) and two (PreS2), immediately after sessions one (IPS1) and two (IPS2), and 20 h post session one (20P). Session and differential ratings of perceived exertion (upper-body, cognitive/technical [RPE-T], lower-body, breathlessness) were collected, and accelerometry and heart rate measured netball load. Identification of clear between-order differences was based on the nonoverlap of the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for mean differences relative to baseline. Compared to PreS1, greater increases in JH (percentage difference between trials; 95%CI: 9%; 4-14%), PPO (5%; 2-8%), PV (3%; 1-5%) and cortisol concentration (45%; 1-88%), and a greater decrease for testosterone/cortisol ratio (-35%; -72 to -2%) occurred at PreS2 in NET-STR. At 20P, greater decreases in JH (10%; 5-15%), PPO (4%; 1-8%) and PV (4%; 2-6%) were observed following STR-NET. No differences existed for well-being, whilst RPE-T was greater (15 AU; 3-26 AU) for strength training during NET-STR. Session order influenced neuromuscular and endocrine responses in International female netball players, highlighting session ordering as a key consideration when planning training.

Neuromuscular, physiological and perceptual responses to an elite netball tournament.

To examine responses to an International netball tournament, female athletes (n= 11) played three matches over consecutive days. External (accelerometry) and internal (heart rate; HR, session; sRPE, and differential; dRPE, rating of perceived exertion) load measures quantified match intensity. On match-day mornings, and three days after match 3, well-being (brief assessment of mood; BAM+), biochemical (creatine kinase concentration; CK), neuromuscular (jump height; JH, peak power output; PPO) and endocrine function (salivary cortisol; C, testosterone; T, concentrations) were assessed. External load was similar between matches whereas dRPE and sRPE were greatest for match 3. Following match 1, CK increased, whereas BAM+, JH, C and T decreased. Following two matches, BAM+, PPO, and T decreased with CK increasing versus baseline. Following consecutive matches, CK (likely moderate; 27.9% ± 19.5%) and C (possibly moderate; 43.3% ± 46.8%) increased, whilst BAM+ (possibly moderate; -20.6% ± 24.4%) decreased. Three days post-tournament BAM+, T, PPO, and JH decreased. Mid-court elicited higher mean HR (possibly moderate; 3.7% ± 3.8%), internal and external intensities (possibly very large; 85.7% ± 49.6%) compared with goal-based positions. Consecutive matches revealed a dose-response relationship for well-being and physiological function; a response evident three days post-tournament.