Physiological Differences in Player Development:
The Size, Skill and Strength of Male & Female Players

By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

The Game is the Same...Almost

The physical aspects of the ‘male’ and ‘female’ game of hockey are fundamentally the same - with a few notable differences. The absence of body checking, coupled with smaller players, makes the women’s game less physical than the men’s game.  However, the women’s game is by no means a ‘non-contact’ version of the men’s game.  

The female game is inherently aggressive - with players using ‘contact’ to maintain body position and gain possession of the puck. Female hockey players have had to become stronger, faster and smarter in order to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Despite the removal of body checking from the women’s game over fifteen years ago, the speed and skill levels of the female players continues to increase, and as a result, the women’s game has become much more physical.

The specific skills needed to play hockey, and the relevant athletic abilities that must be developed in order to execute these skills, are virtually identical for both men and women.  All hockey players must combine superior single leg strength and balance with high levels of total body coordination in order to generate speed and power while executing complex motor skills. However, there are physiological differences between young male and female hockey players that must be taken into account if coaches, trainers and parents are to succeed in their goal of developing injury-free and functionally gifted young athletes.

Differences in the Development of Size, Skill & Strength

SIZE

Up until the age of 12, boys and girls develop at a very similar rate. This parallel development begins to diverge at the onset of puberty, which generally occurs two years earlier for girls than for boys. The rate of biological development is maximal between 11-12 years of age for girls and between 13-14 years of age for males. As a result of their earlier physical maturation, a female’s weight and height surpasses that of boys around the age of twelve. This increased size usually gives girls who are playing with boys an advantage over their male counterparts - until the males hit their growth spurt. Although girls’ earlier physical maturation may give them a size advantage, rapid changes in body composition can make training and playing much more physiologically challenging.

SKILL

Once children hit their first major growth spurt, their ‘window’ for motor skills development and coordination closes for an ‘adjustment’ period. Coaches and parents often notice that the players who have recently undergone a growth spurt suffer from a lack of overall body coordination. This is due to the fact that they must re-learn how to move their ’new’ larger bodies effectively through space. For some players, this ‘adjustment’ period is quite short, while others take months to regain their previous levels of movement mastery. Since young females typically mature earlier than young males, one might think that they would move through this period of physical awkwardness earlier than males and be at an advantage in their development of motor skill and coordination levels. 

However, the earlier onset of puberty in females means that the time period for the greatest degree of motor skill development is shorter for girls than for boys. Up until the age of thirteen, the nervous system is quite ‘plastic’. Movement patterns are not yet completely ingrained in the body, which presents a tremendous opportunity to develop new coordination skills. Ultimately, this means that young athletes around this age are able to learn new skills relatively easily with proper repeated practice. When young female players begin to go through puberty at the age of 11 or 12, this opportunity to develop new coordination skills with relative ease passes, while males are still in a position to take advantage of this critical period of coordination development. Once the players reach thirteen years of age, the boys have had one more year to benefit from this critical period of coordination development and finally begin their physical maturation process, which typically results in boys being larger, stronger and more coordinated than female players of the same age. It is therefore not surprising that girls who had previously been playing with boys typically transition into the women’s game around the age of thirteen.

STRENGTH

Fundamental physiological differences between genders makes the development of lean muscle mass and absolute strength much more challenging for female players than for males.  Females have fewer muscle fibres and much less testosterone overall than males, which means that males are naturally predisposed to building lean muscle mass more easily.  Males will continue to develop their natural strength levels (in the absence of specific strength training) well into their 20s while females’ natural strength development ends in their mid-to-late teens.  In the absence of considerable amounts of testosterone, female athletes will have a difficult time gaining a large amount of lean muscle mass. In order for female athletes to develop similar relative strength levels to male players, they must follow very specific training programs. However, these mass and strength development programs are not effective in young athletes due to their lack of physiological readiness for this type of training and their lack of strength training experience overall. 

Although the game of hockey is relatively similar between males and females, there are fundamental physiological differences between the genders that can result in a significant gap between the size, skill and strength of players.  A properly designed player development program will take these differences into account.

© Total Female Hockey 2008

Kim McCullough, YCS, MSc, is a Athletic Development Specialist and founder of Total Female Hockey. In addition to training and coaching girls at all levels of hockey, from novice to the National team, Kim has also played at the highest level of women’s hockey in the world for the last decade. Kim’s female player development website features a state-of-the-art Complete Off-Season Training Program and her blog gives the coaches and parents of aspiring young players access to the most up-to-date tips and advice on how to help their players take their game to the next level. To learn more about female-specific player development, get your Free Report: The #1 Mistake Female Players Make in the Off-Season at http://www.totalfemalehockey.com