The aim of this study was to compare the performance of elite female players from 3 different sports in linear sprint and change-of-direction (COD) tests and examine their efficiency for changing direction through the calculation of the COD deficit (i.e., the difference in velocity between a linear sprint and a COD task of equal distance). One hundred fifty-four elite players (rugby, n = 40, national team members; soccer, n = 57 and handball n = 57, first division players from the respective Brazilian National Championships) were assessed in the 20-m linear sprint and Zigzag COD tests. A one-way analysis of variance with a Tukey post hoc was used to detect between-sport differences. Female rugby sevens players achieved faster sprint velocities than handball (20-m: 6.21 ± 0.24 m/s; 6.07 ± 0.27 m/s, respectively; p < 0.05) and soccer players (5-m: 4.71 ± 0.26 m/s vs. 4.51 ± 0.20 m/s; and 20-m: 6.08 ± 0.19 m/s; p < 0.05) and exhibited the greatest COD deficits (2.95 ± 0.25 m/s; 2.69 ± 0.19 m/s; 2.82 ± 0.17 m/s, for rugby, handball, and soccer, respectively; p < 0.05). Handball players outperformed all other athletes in the Zigzag test (3.38 ± 0.15 m/s; 3.26 ± 0.10 m/s; 3.26 ± 0.10 m/s, for handball, rugby, and soccer, respectively; p < 0.05) but presented the lowest COD deficits (p < 0.05). Furthermore, soccer players displayed inferior sprint momentum when compared with the other sports (p < 0.05). Linear sprint and COD ability differ significantly among elite female athletes from different team sports, with handball players exhibiting a greater COD speed and efficiency to change direction, with respect to their maximum sprint velocity. The between-sport differences observed suggests that specific training and game demands may affect both sprint and COD performance.
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