Strength and Conditioning Recommendations for Female Athletes: The Gaelic Footballer

Abstract

Ladies Gaelic football (LGF) is a traditional, amateur Gaelic sport played by female athletes. LGF is an invasion-based field sport involving high-intensity, intermittent match play. There is currently a paucity of research on intercounty (elite level) LGF despite a growing interest in the male version of the game. This article aims to provide strength and conditioning recommendations for LGF with particular focus on the intercounty level of play. Recommendations within this article include a needs analysis, female injury epidemiology, physical and physiological demands, female physiology, strength training, and specific conditioning guidelines based on the sport. Additional recommendations include an LGF-specific testing battery, a proposed periodization cycle, and sports-specific speed and agility development.

Small-Sided Soccer Games Promote Greater Adaptations on Vertical Jump and Change-of-Direction Deficit and Similar Adaptations in Aerobic Capacity than High-Intensity Interval Training in Females

“…CMJ greatly relies on eccentric and concentric muscle actions, in the lower limbs SSGs, with their emphasis on rapid changes in direction, accelerations, and decelerations, likely provide more specific mechanical loading patterns that closely mimic the demands of jumping (Duggan et al, 2023). On the other hand, HIIT may not offered the same level of eccentric loading and explosive force development required for optimal CMJ performance in our study.…”

Anthropometric and Physical Fitness Profile of Adolescent Inter-County Ladies’ Gaelic Football Players

“…There is a need to strategically develop physical qualities such as strength, speed, and aerobic endurance to help reduce the risk of injury and to adequately prepare for the demands of ladies' Gaelic football at the current age grades and into senior level. This may be achieved by prescribing strength training sessions, using the warm-up as a tool to develop athleticism, speed, and agility, and using small-sided games to build the aerobic system in a game-specific way in addition to traditional conditioning approaches [44,51]. The current study provides a first step in providing age-appropriate data to coaches working with inter-county teams across three age groups and may aid long-term player development pathways and individualise training programmes for these players.…”

“…Research is also required to determine changes in the physical fitness profile throughout the inter-county season, longitudinal studies to measure the effectiveness of a long-term athletic development programme, the physical and physiological demands of the game at each age grade, between playing positions, and between club and inter-county players. Ascertaining the running demands at each age grade, level, and position will help inform training practice and allow coaches to design data-informed training drills and practices to adequately prepare players for the demands of the game [27,51].…”

“…All three groups in this study were tested in early pre-season, just after selection to their respective panels, and as such these results represent baseline figures for strength, speed, power, and endurance. Although athletic development programmes have the potential to optimise performance and mitigate injury risks, none of the groups had engaged in a continuous structured programme of athletic development, while senior players engage in up to five sessions per week, including two resistance-based sessions [51]. In the absence of specific neuromuscular training, females plateau in mid-to-late adolescence for factors such as strength and speed, while peak power in girls' plateaus around 16 years [8,11].…”