The Applied Sports Science and Medicine of Netball: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Sarah Whitehead, Jonathon Weakley, Stuart Cormack, Helen Alfano, Jim Kerss, Mitch Mooney, Ben Jones

Journal: Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) 2021;51(8):1715-1731

PMID: 34086257

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Abstract

BACKGROUND

Netball is the one of the most popular women's sports in the world. Since gaining professional status in 2008 there has been a rapid growth in research in the applied sports science and medicine of the sport. A scoping review of the area would provide practitioners and researchers with an overview of the current scientific literature to support on-court performance, player welfare and reduce injury.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective was to identify the current research on the applied sports science and medicine of netball. Additionally, the article provides a brief summary of the research in each topic of sports science and medicine in netball and identifies gaps in the current research.

METHODS

Systematic searches of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE and CINAHL were undertaken from earliest record to Dec 2020 and reference lists were manually searched. The PRISMA-ScR protocol was followed. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they investigated netball as a sport or the applied sport science and medicine of netball athletes.

RESULTS

962 studies were identified in the initial search, 150 of which met the inclusion criteria. Injury was the most highly investigated sport science and medicine topic (n = 45), followed by physical qualities (n = 37), match characteristics (n = 24), biomechanics (n = 15), psychology (n = 13), fatigue and recovery (n = 9), training load (n = 4) and nutrition (n = 3). A range of cohorts were used from school to elite and international standards. All cohorts were female netballers, except for one study. A rapid growth in studies over recent years was demonstrated with 65% of studies published in the last decade. There still remains gaps in the literature, with a low evidence base for nutrition, training load and fatigue and recovery.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review summarises the current evidence base and key findings that can be used in practice to enhance the applied sport science and medical support to netball athletes across a range of playing standards, and support the growth of the sport. It is evident that netball as a sport is still under-researched.

Address: Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS6 3QS, UK. [email protected].; Leeds Rhinos Netball, Leeds, UK. [email protected].; Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club, Leeds, UK. [email protected].; Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS6 3QS, UK.; School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.; School of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.; Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.; England Netball, Loughborough, UK.; English Institute of Sport, Manchester, UK.; School of Behavioral and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.; High Performance Pillar, Netball Australia, Melbourne, Australia.; Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS6 3QS, UK.; Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club, Leeds, UK.; England Performance Unit, The Rugby Football League, Leeds, UK.; School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.; Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Cape Town and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.

DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01461-6