Influence of Contextual Variables on Physical and Technical Performance in Male Amateur Basketball: A Case Study

Currently, most basketball research is focused on professional and elite players. Studies at the amateur level are important to explain the physical and technical demands of competition and thus improve players’ and teams’ performance. The purpose of the present study was to desc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Antonio Fernández-Leo, Carlos D. Gómez-Carmona, Javier García-Rubio, Sergio J. Ibáñez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/4/1193
Description
Summary:Currently, most basketball research is focused on professional and elite players. Studies at the amateur level are important to explain the physical and technical demands of competition and thus improve players&#8217; and teams&#8217; performance. The purpose of the present study was to describe the competitive demands of an amateur-level basketball team and to analyze the influence of different situational variables on the physical and technical performance indicators. Eleven amateur senior basketball players participated in six official final-round games during the 2018/2019 season. External, internal load, and notational analysis were registered by inertial devices, heart rate bands, and video analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test was applied for comparisons based on playing positions, periods, and final quarter game outcome, with the post hoc comparison accomplished by a Mann-Whitney U test. The Spearman correlation coefficient was realized for the relational analysis. The results showed that: (a) guards covered more volume of displacements (effective on-court time: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.05; steps/min: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.28) and the centers performed competitive actions of higher load ([&gt;8G] Imp/min: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.20; jumps/min: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.33); (b) a performance decreasing was found between the first and second half of the game; (c) in balanced matches there was the most individual technical performance (PIR/min: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.98, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.01), while in the unbalanced games more high-intensity impacts were seen ([&gt;8G] Imp/min: <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01, <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mrow> <msubsup> <mi>E</mi> <mi>R</mi> <mn>2</mn> </msubsup> </mrow> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> = 0.07). The situational variables analyzed had an influence on athletic performance in amateur senior basketball players and should be considered for designing training sessions and planning strategies during official matches.
ISSN:1660-4601