Anthropometric, Physiological and Physical Performance Characteristics of Adolescent Female Field Hockey Players in the United Kingdom

This study aimed to describe physical performance in female adolescent hockey players in the United Kingdom to provide normative and comparative data to both identify this group of adolescent team-sport players as athletes and inform coaching and training strategies. Observations were in line with similar studies of active adolescents or elite/sub-elite female adolescent team sport players, suggesting that our participants were similar to other adolescent athletes in most measures. Strength, particularly hand grip strength, was lower than seen in similar aged international hockey players but above population averages. These differences may reflect a difference in training, as none of the participants in this study were doing sport specific strength and conditioning. Future studies should investigate the changes in physiological and physical performance characteristics of adolescent female hockey players across the hockey season specifically in the context of strength training.