Speakers
Description
Objectives
Despite increasing research, the influence of the female menstrual cycle (MC) on sporting performance is still largely a mystery. The only certainty is that the MC can have an effect of individual magnitude (McNulty et al., 2020). This increases the importance of clear communication strategies between coach and athlete. The aim of the present study is to investigate communication on MC in the training context.
Methods
We developed an online questionnaire addressed to female sports club members (n = 1,220). To serve as dependent variables we included questions on the coach's thematization of MC and the athlete's willingness to communicate about. We included questions about the type of sport, the coach’s sex, the extent of training, the training group’s sex and the performance level as control variables. Inferential statistical methods were used.
Findings
We found the likelihood of communication about MC to be depended on the coach’s sex, the level of performance and the type of sport. Overall, only 13% of respondents reported a rather open communication on the topic. At the same time, the willingness to communicate with the coach is disproportionately higher (84%).
Discussion and conclusion
Given the role of the MC on performance and the athletes’ willingness communicate about it, the results of our study show a large gap between desire and reality, even in 2022. We conclude that there needs to be more research on the impact of MC on female performance and the results of these studies need to find their way into the content of coach education and training.
