Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if mouth rinsing a CHO solution versus a placebo solution, improves netball performance.
Methods: Eight female university, centre (C) position, netball players’ aged 20.4 ± 1.5 years, participated in the study. Participants completed three testing days, each conducted seven days apart at the same time. Visit one consisted of a familiarisation and visit two and three involved the experimental protocol. The experimental protocol consisted of five trials of the Net-Test, separated by active rest with a work to rest ratio of 1:2. In a randomised double blind crossover design, participants’ mouth rinsed a 25ml, 6% CHO solution or placebo solution at the beginning of each trial of the Net-Test. Time to complete each trial, heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded after each trial.
Results: The results show an overall statistically significant difference (P = .023) in time to complete the Net-Test with a CHO mouth rinse compared to a placebo mouth rinse. No significant differences were found in HR (P = .360) and RPE (P = .087) between the CHO and placebo condition.
Conclusion: This study found positive performance effects in a netball specific test with a CHO mouth rinse, despite no significant differences found in HR and RPE. Further research is warranted to investigate the effects of CHO mouth rinse on game duration specific netball performance.
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