Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...

likelihood of injury during a training session or competition (Holt, Pelham & Burke, 1999).
On the other hand, it has been suggested that highly extensible muscles, which do not possess
the necessary coordination and stability, may lead to joint dislocations and ligament strain
(Cowan, Jones, Tomlinson, Robinson & Polly, 1988).
Changes in flexibility occur after stretching exercises and flexibility training is used in the
warm-up before training or competition (Lambert, 2009). There were no statistically
significant changes in flexibility over the competition season within each positional group
although there was a non-significant decrease of 3.94 cm and non-significant increase of 5.45
cm during mid-season and post-season, respectively. As tightness in any of the muscle groups
may contribute to the limitation of movements whilst measuring sit-and-reach flexibility (Holt
et al., 1999). It is difficult to explain the practical but non-significant change in flexibility
throughout the season as the players as stretching was an integral component of the recovery
sessions. Further research, need to utilise protocols that will separately assess the four muscle
groups involved, as this will enable the strength and conditioning coach to get a better
understanding of the exercises or work load that may result in the limitation the muscles range
of movement.
5.3.2 Muscular Power
The vertical jump has been used extensively as a measure of explosive leg power in contact
sports as it is highly related to dynamic performance activities such acceleration and breaking
tackles (Nicholas, 1997). The vertical jump height reported for participants of this study
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