Sleep/wake behavior prior to and following competition in elite female netball athletes

Abstract

To determine the sleep routines of elite athletes in the lead up to and following competition. Ten elite female netballers (mean ± SD; age = 23 ± 6 years) completed a survey on their perceived sleep duration (PSD) and perceived sleep quality (PSQ) on three consecutive nights, the night before the game (G − 1), the night of the game (G), and the night following the game (G + 1) on 15 separate occasions during the in-season competition period. Additionally, the sleep behavior of 11 elite female netballers (mean ± SD; age = 23 ± 4 years) was monitored on two separate occasions using wrist-actigraphy to assess total time in bed (TTB), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), sleep latency (SL), wake episodes per night (WE), sleep onset time (SOT), and wake time (WT) on G − 1, G, and G + 1 nights. There was a significant difference in PSD from G − 1 to G (8:29 to 6:52 h:min, d = − 1.98) and from G to G + 1 (6:52 to 8:09 h:min, d = 1.70). TST was significantly different from G − 1 to G (8:31 to 6:46 h:min, d = − 1.36). At G + 1, TST remained significantly below the G − 1 level (7:23 and 8:31 h:min, respectively, d = − 0.97). SOT was significantly later on the night of the game (23:57), and was also significantly delayed at G + 1 (23:17) compared to G − 1 (22:41). Following an evening netball game, PSD, TST, TTB and SOT are impaired. Additionally, TST and TTB remain impaired on the night following competition.