Colliding skilfully : 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 (eg, tackling in rugby and throws in judo), and/or incidental actions (e.g., contesting an aerial challenge in netball and 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 environment1 may be holding them back from necessary preparation? The editorial presents contemporary challenges to preparing female athletes to collide safely and skillfully during sport.