Physiological profiles of representative women softball, hockey and netball players

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Abstract
Maximum aerobic and anaerobic power was measured in 29 top class female athletes. The subjects were members of their respective South Australian representative teams for the 1977 season. The hockey players (n [number] = 11) registered the highest mean treadmill .ovrhdot.VO2 max [maximum O2 uptake] of 50.2 ml/kg min which was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than that of the softballers (n = 13, 45.4 ml/kg min) or the netballers (n = 5, 44.8 ml/kg min). Anaerobic alactacid power was measured by Margaria''s stair run. The netballers mean score for power output (953.0 W) was significantly greater than those of the other 2 groups (softball = 800.7 W; hockey = 813.4 W). There were no significant differences between the mean vertical velocity scores of 1.28, 1.31 and 1.33 m/s for the softball, netball and hockey players, respectively. Anaerobic lactacid power was estimated by the duration the subjects could sustain a 9.7 km/h treadmill running speed at an elevation of 20%. Although there were no significant differences between the groups for post-exercise blood lactate, the hockey players (59.3 s) and the netballers (58.9 s) were able to sustain this workload for a significantly longer period than the softballers (40.1 s). The netball players (175 cm) were significantly taller than either of the other 2 groups (softball = 167.5 cm, hockey 164.6 cm). There were no significant differences between the 3 groups for relative body fat (softball = 26.9%; hockey = 25.3%; netball = 28.9%).