Introduction Female athletes are underrepresented in sports-focused research, with majority of the training, pre-hab and rehabilitation plans based on male data. Female specific normative values would improve understandings of female athlete requirements, facilitating guideline design for this population. Hips and pelvises differ between sexes, affecting biomechanics and movement. Yet, training and rehabilitation methods for male and female athletes remains the same. We collected hip strength data in coronal and sagittal planes to investigate any differences between the dominant and non-dominant leg and agonist-antagonist ratios. Additionally, we explored how these measures change with age.

Materials and Methods Cross-sectional observational. We collected maximal isometric hip strength values from 21 female participants (engaging in sport/exercise ≥5 hours/week), using a handheld dynamometer (Mark-10 Series 3). Findings were normalised to body mass. Paired sample t-tests and linear regression were used to analyse data and address the study’s research questions.

Results We found no strength differences between the dominant and non-dominant legs or agonist-antagonist ratios (p>0.05) in all measurements. Abduction movements were stronger in the coronal plane, and flexion in the sagittal. Interestingly, these two movements were most associated with decreased strength with age (p<0.05).

Conclusion Training, rehabilitation and pre-hab programmes for female athletes need to be tailored and different approaches to the established male-driven evidence should be considered. Despite abduction and flexion strength being higher in these athletes, muscles involved in these movements may have to be targeted in the training long-term due to their decrease of strength associated with age.