Women’s sport is breaking new ground

The historical gap in research

For much of sports science history, research has focused on male athletes, with training methods and models built around their physiology. In an effort to control the research process, women were often excluded from studies, creating gaps in understanding key areas like training adaptation, biomechanics and recovery specific to female athletes' needs. 

Dr Katie Slattery, a UTS lecturer and endurance performance expert, has spent years working with elite organisations like the NSW Institute of Sport and Cycling Australia (now AusCycling). She played a key role in preparing the women’s track endurance cycling squad for the 2016 Rio Olympics.   

Now, she teaches future sport and exercise science practitioners at UTS, supervises PhD students and continues research in high-performance sport. Her work includes optimising training loads, testing interventions and recovery strategies to improve physiological adaptation and performance.  

Throughout her career, Slattery has seen significant shifts in women’s sport, though progress has been slow. When she began her research journey at UTS in 2003, she was advised against including women in studies because their hormonal cycles were considered “too difficult” to manage. 

“In research, you generally want to control everything and change just one factor. But of course, women’s hormones fluctuate every month, and managing the menstrual cycle in studies has often been seen as too complex,” she says. 

By 2010, attitudes were shifting, and Slattery was given the green light to include women in her research on heat and hypoxia training for athletes – although there were still far more men in the study than women. She made progress by tracking menstrual cycles and standardising data collection at consistent points in their cycle. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was a step toward better understanding how women’s bodies respond to training and recovery.  

Around the same time, Dr Libby Pickering Rodriguez, a UTS lecturer in biomechanics and researcher, was starting her PhD. While there was growing enthusiasm for studying female athletes, it wasn’t without challenges.  

“Working with full-time male athletes at the Sydney Swans was straightforward – they were at the club five or more days a week,” she shares.  

“But when I conducted research with the female netball team, the Sydney Swifts in 2013, there were roadblocks.  

“Although they were the highest-level netballers in the country, most players were part-time athletes, balancing sport with jobs and family. The coach only had a few sessions with them each week and I had to fit testing around their schedules. It was a lot to ask of them to take on another commitment,” says Pickering Rodriguez.  

Improving women's performance through science 

Pickering Rodriguez is leading Project 130, a partnership with Cricket NSW aimed at improving female fast bowling. The project also has a long-term goal of increasing the average speeds of female fast bowlers from 115 km/h to 130 km/h. 

At the biomechanics lab in Moore Park, bowlers run and bowl on a 40-metre indoor pitch wearing motion-capture markers, while 20 motion capture cameras and six force plates track their movements. This data creates 3D models that analyse joint angles, movement patterns and ground reaction forces. The team also collects information on height, arm length, speed, strength and power to identify key performance drivers.  

The research, which involves both elite and emerging female fast bowlers, not only aims to understand what drives performance, but also helps uncover new talent by pinpointing physical and technical traits linked to fast bowling success.  

“There’s no significant data on female bowlers, so we’re building from scratch,” says Pickering Rodriguez.  

“So far, we’ve found that female fast bowlers use different strategies to reach high speeds than men. For example, fast bowling relies on leverage, which means longer arms and legs typically provide an advantage. Since men and women typically differ in their anthropometry, their bowling mechanics naturally vary.”  

Pickering Rodriguez’s research is still in the exploratory phase.  

“Right now, we want to increase our sample size and then do more confirmatory research to see if we find common factors among athletes who bowl faster. If we do, we could then move into training interventions to modify those factors.”  

Understanding the menstrual cycle for performance 

Meanwhile, Brown’s research on menstrual cycles is providing essential insights into how hormonal fluctuations affect performance.  

Brown began by conducting a menstrual health screening of national and domestic league players to identify common conditions and perceptions. Next, she tracked the menstrual cycles of domestic league soccer players over three cycles, focusing on two key factors influencing performance: hormonal phases and symptoms.  

Using GPS data, Brown tracked match performance and monitored players’ perceived fatigue, soreness, stress and recovery. She explored how different phases of the menstrual cycle affected running, speed and recovery. Brown found that players ran more during the late follicular phase (mid cycle) than during menstruation or the luteal phase (end of cycle). However, the effects varied among athletes, highlighting the importance of individual approaches.  

“Some athletes aren’t affected by their cycle, while others are. For those who are, we can adjust factors like hydration, nutrition, sleep and training loads,” she says.  

While there's no strong evidence yet for blanket recommendations about training or nutrition based on cycle phases, Brown believes individual management is key. 

“It’s about monitoring for patterns and adjusting based on what affects the individual athlete.”  

Brown has also helped develop a menstrual health screening tool used by the Matildas. The tool helps track athletes’ menstrual health and symptoms, monitors hormonal contraceptive use and assesses the perceived effects of the menstrual cycle on performance. 

“We have made the menstrual health screening tool available with the published research so that all clubs, teams and researchers can access and use it,” she says.  

For Brown, the tool is not just about collecting data – it’s about creating actionable plans and encouraging conversations around menstrual health. It gives athletes the opportunity to voice concerns about their symptoms, even minor ones, ensuring that they feel supported and heard.  

Still some way to go

While women’s sport has made great strides, there’s more to be done. As Pickering Rodriguez says, “We’re slowly chipping away at the barriers.”  

Many elite female athletes in sports like rugby sevens, AFL and cricket often start later than their male counterparts, having fewer opportunities to develop their technical and tactical skills from a young age.  

“Many women enter these sports having transitioned from other disciplines. They’re exceptionally talented, but they’re still mastering new skills,” she says.  

“If people understood that better, they’d be in awe of what these women are accomplishing.”  

Brown sees the same trend in soccer: “Boys enter football academies by age 12, while girls often don’t start until later.”  

She highlights the need for greater investment at every level, from grassroots initiatives that provide female-specific kits to ensuring girls have access to proper training facilities and change rooms.  

Even at the elite level, female teams often train on subpar pitches and lack key resources. For true equity in sport, this must change.  

One of the most pressing challenges is the high dropout rate among young female athletes during their teenage years.  

Slattery notes that girls aged 12 to 17 often miss out on the same training opportunities as boys, especially in strength and conditioning. While more research is needed, this disparity is believed to contribute to both dropout rates and injuries, such as the higher incidence of ACL injuries in female athletes.  

Misconceptions around strength training also persist, such as the myth that “lifting too much will make you bulky.” Addressing these myths and barriers is crucial for further progress to be made.