Colliding skillfully: preparing female athletes for collision events

Abstract

Collisions and physical contact with other athletes, or the playing environment, are
fundamental aspects of many sports. These can result from intentional high-impact actions (e.g.
tackling in rugby, throws in judo), and/or incidental actions (e.g. contesting an aerial challenge
in netball, blocking a ball in football). With the unprecedented growth and professionalisation
of women's sports that include collision events, the physical and mental demands on female
athletes have significantly increased. Female athletes should be empowered and supported to
perform contact sports well, with appropriate skill and physical/mental preparation. We
question whether the collective sports community (e.g., coaches, strength and conditioning
professionals, sports scientists, and sport and exercise medicine practitioners) is adequately
preparing female athletes for collisions in sports, or whether a gendered sports environment
(1) may be holding them back from necessary preparation? The editorial presents contempor

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ORCID for Zoe Saynor: orcid.org/0000-0003-0674-8477

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