Physical profile of Finnish female ice hockey national team between the years 1995-2014

Abstract

The understanding of the physical performance characteristics of ice hockey players helps to establish performance data, develop more specialized training programs on and off the ice, improve performance and also identify weaknesses in conditioning. Appropriate training and maintenance of fitness level might help to prevent injuries and maintain performance during games. Additionally, the conditioning of a player may influence the coaches decision on the playing time the player gets, especially during double shifting or penalty killing situations. Despite the increasing popularity of ice hockey, there are few reasearches examing elite female ice hockey players. The purpose of this study was to create a profile of Finnish women national team ice hockey players’ physical profile between the years 1995 to 2014. This work considers players’ anthropometrics (height, weight, fat % ), anaerobic and aerobic threshold levels (power peak, maximum blood lactate concentration, VO2max) and speed variable (static and countermovement vertical jump). Finnish national team players are tested several time during each year. In this study it is surveyed the test results from the beginning of the season, from June or August annually from 1995 to 2013. Peak power and VO2max averages have improved slightly during the last four years. An average player is still the same height and weight as she was in 1995. Only fat percentage has increased from the year 1995. Particularly there would be room for improvement in vertical jump results, which are found to predict skating speed. The overall athleticism of the national team has not altered during the 19 years.