## 4 Discussion  
The aim of this study was to determine the acute effect of hockey match-play on several risk factors such as isometric knee flexion, hip ADD and ABD strength, ADD/ABD strength ratio, passive hip flexion ROM, ankle dorsiflexion ROM and CMJ in competitive female hockey players. To the best \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Variables** & **Pre-Match** & **Post-Match** & \(p\)**-Value** & **ES [95\%CI]** \\ \hline Straight Leg Elevation Test DCM (\({}^{\circ}\)) & 81.1 \(\pm\) 12.3 & 82 0 \(\pm\) 9.1 & 0.753 & 0.09 [0.00–0.18] \\ Straight Leg Elevation Test NO-DOM (\({}^{\circ}\)) & 81.4 \(\pm\) 10.3 & 84.9 \(\pm\) 9.9 & 0.022 \({}^{\circ}\) & 0.35 [0.26–0.45] \\ Ankle dorsiflexion DOM (cm) & 10.9 \(\pm\) 2.5 & 10.4 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 0.316 & 0.16 [0.06–0.25] \\ Ankle dorsiflexion NO-DOM (cm) & 11.1 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 10.8 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 0.362 & 0.10 [0.00–0.19] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Abbreviations: DOM = dominant-side; NO-DOM = non-dominant side; \({}^{\circ}\) = degrees; cm = centimeters; \({}^{\star}\) Significant differences compared to the PRE values at \(p<0.05\).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Hip and ankle range of motion (ROM). Figure 1: Hip and knee isometric hip abduction (ABD), adduction (ADD) and knee flexion strength values. (**a**) Relative isometric hip ABD strength in the dominant limb; (**b**) relative hip abductor strength in the non-dominant limb; (**c**) relative hip adductor strength in the dominant limb; (**d**) relative hip adductor strength in the non-dominant limb; (**e**) relative knee flexion strength in the dominant limb; (**f**) relative knee flexion strength in the non-dominant limb. of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that analyzed the acute effects of hockey match-play on several risk factors in female athletes. The main results showed that hockey match-play acutely produced a decrease in CM] performance, and an increase in isometric knee flexion strength and hip flexion ROM with knee extension in the non-dominant limb. However, no significant differences were found in isometric hip ADD, ABD strength and ADD/ABD strength ratio and ankle dorsiflexion ROM in both limbs. The CM] is one of the most important tests used to evaluate the lower-limb muscles fatigue [38; 39]. The results in this study showed a significant reduction in levels of performance in CMJ (-11.33%) after match-play which was in agreement with previous studies conducted in other intermittent sports [40; 41]. Recent research from [PERSON] and [PERSON] [42] has shown that the gastrocnemius, soleus and vastus muscles have the largest contribution to vertical center of mass (COM) acceleration during the CMJ, and the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles function closest to their maximal capacities. If one were to look at the distances covered by the players (Table 1), one can observe that most of the distance had been covered at lower intensities. Here, the production of the horizontal force has been attributed to the muscles of the lower limb: namely tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius and soleus [2]. This indicates that a greater fatigue caused by distances ran at these intensities appears to have increased the neuromuscular fatigue associated with the CMJ, leading to a decrease in performance. In addition, albeit speculative, another possible reason for the decrease values in the CMJ test after match-play has been attributed to disruptions within the muscular fibers [41], increasing some markers of muscle damage (e.g., creatine-kinase, myoglobin) after a match in intermittent sports [41; 43]. Moreover, previous literature described the inflammatory responses and fibrillar damage to the muscles and showed a decrease in metabolic indices in athletes after playing a match; however, this speculation requires further investigation. Muscle strength in the lower limbs is essential to produce explosive actions in hockey (e.g., accelerations, changes of direction).