Monitoring of sprint and change of direction velocity, vertical jump height, and repeated sprint ability in sub-elite female football players throughout their menstrual cycle

ABSTRACT

Aims

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the early follicular (EF, i.e., menstruation), late follicular (LF), and middle luteal (ML) phases of the menstrual cycle and different factors that may influence football performance.

Methods

To this end, 11 eumenorrheic sub-elite female football players underwent field tests to assess sprint speed, lower extremity power, repeated sprint ability, velocity on change of direction, and technical skills at each cycle phase.

Results

Performance during the 15-m change of direction ability test, 15-m ball dribbling test, squat jump height, total sprint time [sum of 7 sprints] and decrement score [(mean sprint time/best sprint time × 100) − 100], maximum and mean heart rate, and perceived exertion did not significantly differ among menstrual cycle phases. Conversely, the linear sprint velocity over 10, 20, 30-m distances was decreased in EF vs LF (10-, 20- and 30-m) and in ML vs LF (10- and 20-m) (p < 0.05). The 40-m sprint velocity did not change in the different menstrual cycle phases.

Conclusion

Overall, our study suggests that sex hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle are not associated with vertical jump, velocity on change of direction, and repeated sprint ability, but may influence linear sprint velocity over short distances (10, 20, and 30 m).

KEYWORDS:

• Soccer
• period
• female
• speed
• hormonal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2024.2328674

Additional information

Funding

This study was carried out in the framework of a CIFRE agreement thesis and was supported by the French National Association for Research and Technology (ANRT).