Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Female soccer has seen a substantial rise in participation, as well as increased financial support from governing bodies over the last decade. Thus, there is an onus on researchers and medical departments to develop a better understanding of the physical characteristics and demands, and the health and performance needs of female soccer players. In this review, we discuss the current research, as well as the knowledge gaps, of six major topics: physical demands, talent identification, body composition, injury risk and prevention, health and nutrition. Data on female talent identification are scarce, and future studies need to elucidate the influence of relative age and maturation selection across age groups. Regarding the physical demands, more research is needed on the pattern of high-intensity sprinting during matches and the contribution of soccer-specific movements. Injuries are not uncommon in female soccer players, but targeting intrinsically modifiable factors with injury prevention programmes can reduce injury rates. The anthropometric and physical characteristics of female players are heterogeneous and setting specific targets should be discouraged in youth and sub-elite players. Menstrual cycle phase may influence performance and injury risk; however, there are few studies in soccer players. Nutrition plays a critical role in health and performance and ensuring adequate energy intake remains a priority. Despite recent progress, there is considerably less research in female than male soccer players. Many gaps in our understanding of how best to develop and manage the health and performance of female soccer players remain.

Nutritional optimization for female elite football players—topical review

“…Professional football teams complete ~5–7 training sessions per week in addition to 1–2 weekly matches during the competitive season. With this amount of physical load, a focus on daily diet is of great importance 3 . The major roles of a female elite football player's daily diet are to supply the nutrients needed to cover the energy demands of their training program, to optimize the adaptations achieved during and in response to training sessions and match‐play, and to improve recovery between training sessions and matches 5 .…”

Female workers, male managers: Gender, leadership, and risk‐taking

“…This is in stark contrast to, for example, professional basketball, where players' height and weight substantially differs between positions. In (women's) soccer, goalkeepers somewhat stand out as they are, on average, taller than other players on the field (Poli et al, 2017), but the remaining outfield positions (defenders, midfielders and strikers) exhibit a rather similar average stature and body mass index (Randell et al, 2021). Also in our sample of women's soccer players, goalkeepers are with a mean height of more than 174 cm significantly taller than players in outfield positions.…”

Load Monitoring Practice in Elite Women Association Football

“…The results of this study suggest that practitioners in women's football recognize the complexity of the load monitoring process and show that data analysis approaches are an integral part of the decision-making processes. Future research is needed to support these approaches with scientific and clinical evidence from the context of women's elite football, thereby focusing on the physiological difference between men and women (Randell et al, 2021).…”

“…Longitudinal study designs may also provide a greater understanding in how the different facilitators and barriers impact the implementation of load monitoring practices and might even provide specific insight into the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving implementation. Although the current study focused on the organizational differences between men's and women's football, more detailed examinations may be valuable to better understand how physiological differences (e.g., menstrual cycle) between men and women impact or require specific load monitoring practices (Randell et al, 2021). Further, insights into the player perceptions of the load monitoring process and its outcomes could also yield insight into gaps from the practitioners to athletes' perspectives (Geertsema et al, 2021).…”