How Do the Habitual Sleep Patterns of Elite Female Basketball and Soccer Athletes Compare With the General Population?

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the habitual sleep of female basketball and soccer athletes to age- and sex-matched controls and to characterize the sleep of basketball and soccer athletes at different competition locations and on the days surrounding competition. Methods: Using an observational case–control design, 41 female participants were recruited to participate, consisting of 11 basketball athletes (mean [SD]: age = 24.1 [4.9] y), 10 soccer athletes (24.8 [6.4] y), and 20 nonathletic controls (24.2 [2.8] y). Sleep was monitored using actigraphy for four 7-day periods throughout the preseason and subsequent competition season. Generalized linear models were used to analyze the effect of group and competition situation (eg, Home or Away) on sleep. Results: During habitual conditions, basketball athletes had longer sleep durations (7.4 [1.5] h) than soccer athletes (7.0 [1.2] h, P < .001) and controls (7.3 [1.2] h, P = .002). During competition, basketball and soccer athletes had longer sleep durations following home (7.7 [1.7] and 7.2 ± 1.3 h) compared with away games (6.8 [1.8] and 7.0 [1.3] h). In addition, basketballers went to bed earlier (23:49 [01:25]) and woke earlier (07:22 [01:59]) following away games compared with soccer athletes (00:10 [01:45] and 08:13 [01:45]). Conclusions: Basketballers had longer habitual sleep durations compared with soccer athletes and nonathletic controls. During competition, basketballers had earlier bed and wake times compared with soccer athletes following away games, highlighting the need for individualized sleep strategies.

Sleep Patterns Fluctuate Following Training and Games across the Season in a Semi-Professional, Female Basketball Team

“…Overall, the findings of this study and those reported in other studies [14,33,34] suggest female basketball players attain adequate sleep durations (>7 h per night), according to the National Sleep Foundation's recommendations for adults [2]. Indeed, semiprofessional, female basketball players in the present study attained a nightly sleep duration of 7.3 ± 0.3 h (marginal mean ± SE) across all nights, which is comparable to average total sleep times reported previously in professional, female basketball players (8.1 ± 1.6 h [33], 7.6 ± 1.5 h [34], and 7.4 ± 1.5 h per night [14]).…”

“…Regarding sleep patterns among team sport athletes, reviews highlight that most studies on this topic have recruited football players (i.e., soccer, Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, American football), with little research attention dedicated to basketball players (proportion of studies in review examining football vs. basketball players: 63% vs. 6% [11] and 49% vs. 4% [12]). Given that basketball players have been shown to sleep longer [13,14], wake later [13,14], spend more time awake after sleep onset [14], and take longer to go to sleep [14] than football players [13,14], the bulk of existing sleep data reported in team-sport athletes cannot be simply transferred from football players to basketball players. Consequently, targeted sleep data are needed to understand the sleep patterns of basketball players and identify any sleep-related issues in this population.…”

“…Considering game schedules, Staunton et al [34] observed that WNBL players (n = 17) attained 7.6 ± 1.5 h of sleep at 92 ± 4% efficiency per night across two consecutive in-seasons using wrist-worn activity monitors (GT3-X; ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA), but experienced significant (p < 0.05) reductions in sleep duration on nights following the second game in double-headers (i.e., two games in one week) compared to nights following games in single-game weeks [34]. More recently, Miles et al [14] reported that WNBL players (n = 11) attained 7.4 ± 1.5 h of sleep at 88 ± 6% efficiency (training days and rest days combined) using wrist-worn activity monitors (GTX3+; ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA) across 4 × 1-week blocks of the pre-season and in-season. Comparisons between nights before games, the night of games, and nights following game day showed players had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher wake after sleep onset (time spent awake following sleep onset) on the night before a game than the night of games [14].…”

“…More recently, Miles et al [14] reported that WNBL players (n = 11) attained 7.4 ± 1.5 h of sleep at 88 ± 6% efficiency (training days and rest days combined) using wrist-worn activity monitors (GTX3+; ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA) across 4 × 1-week blocks of the pre-season and in-season. Comparisons between nights before games, the night of games, and nights following game day showed players had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher wake after sleep onset (time spent awake following sleep onset) on the night before a game than the night of games [14]. Collectively, these studies show that female basketball players may attain adequate (>7 h) sleep durations and quality (efficiency ≥ 85%) [35]; however, some notable gaps in evidence are apparent.…”

Sleepiness among Professional, Semi Professional and Students Chinese Soccer Players in the Shanghai Lockdown

“…Also, psychological reasons (more involvement in their role by females) can affect this outcome: professional female soccer players, show higher values for stress control, motivation, mental ability, and team cohesion in comparison to female amateur [44] which can make them more susceptible of emotional distress. Females' soccer players were found more sensitive to performance evaluation by coaches and peers [32] and more at risk for anxiety and depression than males [45] and to have shorter sleep-in comparison to other professional's sport female athletes [46]. In normal conditions, the sleep disruption is likely to be caused by the high physical and mental loads experienced during soccer games [47].…”