The Applied Sports Science and Medicine of Netball: A Systematic Scoping Review

Abstract

<p>Background</p> <p>Netball is the one of the most popular women's sports in the world. Since gaining professional status in 2008 there has been a rapid growth in research in the applied sports science and medicine of the sport. A scoping review of the area would provide practitioners and researchers with an overview of the current scientific literature to support on-court performance, player welfare and reduce injury.</p><p>Objective</p> <p>The primary objective was to identify the current research on the applied sports science and medicine of netball. Additionally, the article provides a brief summary of the research in each topic of sports science and medicine in netball and identifies gaps in the current research.</p><p>Methods</p></p> Systematic searches of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE and CINAHL were undertaken from earliest record to Dec 2020 and reference lists were manually searched. The PRISMA-ScR protocol was followed. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they investigated netball as a sport or the applied sport science and medicine of netball athletes.</p><p>Results</p><p> 962 studies were identified in the initial search, 150 of which met the inclusion criteria. Injury was the most highly investigated sport science and medicine topic (<i>n</i> = 45), followed by physical qualities (<i>n</i> = 37), match characteristics (<i>n</i> = 24), biomechanics (<i>n</i> = 15), psychology (<i>n</i> = 13), fatigue and recovery (<i>n</i> = 9), training load (<i>n</i> = 4) and nutrition (<i>n</i> = 3). A range of cohorts were used from school to elite and international standards. All cohorts were female netballers, except for one study. A rapid growth in studies over recent years was demonstrated with 65% of studies published in the last decade. There still remains gaps in the literature, with a low evidence base for nutrition, training load and fatigue and recovery.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p> This scoping review summarises the current evidence base and key findings that can be used in practice to enhance the applied sport science and medical support to netball athletes across a range of playing standards, and support the growth of the sport. It is evident that netball as a sport is still under-researched.</p>