1. A PHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF A
NETBALL PLAYER
By Sean Lewis from ‘Sports Fanatical Physiologists’

2. PROFILE:
o Female
o 25 years old
o 165cm tall
o Mass is 63kg
o BMI is 23.13
o Position is Centre
o Training with the National Squad

3. 5 MAIN ATTRIBUTES OF A NETBALL CENTRE
o Body composition
• Centres are normally very lean, with very little fat mass
o Flexibility
• Important for Injury prevention as well as maximising power, speed, agility
o Speed
• Important for getting into space to receive the ball, or intercept passes
o Agility
• Similar reasons as speed
o Aerobic Fitness
• Centre’s have the most ground to cover, game lasts for at least one hour

4. THE 5 TESTS
o Body Composition – Skinfold test with seven sites
• Accurate,
• Repeatable
• Cheap
o Flexibility – Sit and Reach test
• Relevant
• Cheap
• Repeatable
o Speed – 20m sprint test, gates at 5, 10, 20m
• Relevant
• Measures reaction time and acceleration
• Repeatable

5. THE 5 TESTS (CONT.)
o Agility – Netball Specific test
• Replicates game situation
• Measures reaction time,
• Repeatable
o Aerobic Fitness – 20m Shuttle Run
• Done in Netball attire on a Netball
court
• Accurately predicts VO 2 Max
• Repeatable,
• Similar to game situation

6. RESULTS
Sum of 20m Sprint Agility Sprint Sit and Reach 20m Shuttle
skinfolds (cm) Time (s) Time (s) Score (cm) Run Score
Actual Expected Actual Expected Actual Expected Actual Expected Actual Expected
78.9 74.7 3.25 3.38 3.44 3.57 28 31 11.7 12.1
20m Sprint Test (s)
5m 10m 20m
Average Peak Expected Average Peak Expected Average Peak Expected
0.98 0.95 1.04 1.66 1.62 1.76 3.25 3.19 3.38

7. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
o Anaerobically very strong
• High scores in Agility, Speed and Flexibility
o Aerobically still quite good, not as good as expected
• Lower than expected scores for aerobic fitness and body composition
o Recommend aerobic exercises at training
• Improve aerobic fitness
• Improve body composition
o Also recommend analysing diet, removing unnecessary calories

8. ERGOGENIC AID – SPORTS DRINK
o Designed to:
• Maintain fluid balance
• Replace lost electrolytes
• Maintain CHO levels
o Consists of:
• Mainly water
• <10% Carbohydrates (some have
>10%)
• Electrolytes
• Sugars

9. ERGOGENIC AID – SPORTS DRINK
o Pros: o Cons:
• Appear to enhance performance in • Has been linked to erosion of tooth
short and long term exercises enamel
• Delay onset of fatigue by increasing • Effectiveness in short duration
rate of lactate removal exercise (≤ one hour) is debatable
• Maintains Glycogen stores
• Maintain fluid balance more than • While there are not many cons for
water sports drinks, CHO milk drinks have
• Better taste = drink more
been shown to have an improved
effect on recovery
• Has been shown to increase mental
function during exercise • Also don’t have the issue of enamel
erosion

10. SPORTS DRINKS RECOMMENDATIONS
o Sports drinks will enhance performance in shorter duration exercise
o Recommend a switch to CHO milk drinks
• Similar effect but proteins and calcium improve recovery
• Does not have issue with tooth enamel erosion
o Would also recommend consumption post exercise as well as during, to enhance
recovery

11. SUMMARY
o Anaerobically is very fit
o Aerobically is still quite fit but needs improvement
o Recommend aerobic based exercise as well as modified diet
• To increase aerobic fitness and body composition
o Sports drinks are enhancing performance
• Recommend switching to CHO milk drinks
• Also recommend consuming them post exercise as well as during