Original articles  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2004 June;44(2):157-63

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Physiological and technical characteristics of elite young basketball players

Apostolidis N. ¹, Nassis G. P. ², Bolatoglou T. ¹, Geladas N. D. ²

¹ Department of Sport, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece 2 Department of Sport Medicine and Biology of Physical Activity Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Aim. The aim of ­this ­study was 2-­fold: a) to ­describe the phys­io­log­ical and tech­nical char­ac­ter­is­tics of ­elite ­young bas­ket­ball ­players, and b) to ­examine the rela­tion­ship ­between cer­tain ­field and labor­a­tory ­tests ­among ­these ­players.
­Methods. Thir­teen ­male ­players of the ­junior’s Bas­ket­ball ­National ­team (age: 18.5±0.5 ­years, ­mass: 95.5±8.8 kg, ­height: 199.5±6.2 cm, ­body fat: 11.4±1.9%, ­means±SD) per­formed a run to exhaus­tion on the tread­mill, the Win­gate ­test and 2 ­types of ver­tical ­jump. On a sep­arate day, the ­field ­tests (con­trol ­dribble, defen­sive move­ment, ­speed ­dribble, ­speed run­ning, ­shuttle run and ­dribble ­shuttle run) ­were con­ducted.
­Results. Max­imal ­oxygen ­uptake (V.O2max) and ven­til­a­tory ­threshold ­were 51.7±4.8 ml/kg/min and 77.6±7.0% V.O2max, respec­tively. Max­imum ­power ­output was 10.7±1.3 ­Watts/kg and ­mean ­power (­Pmean) 8.0±0.7 ­Watts/kg. ­Counter-move­ment and ­squat ­jump ­height ­were 40.1±3.7 and 39.8±4.0 cm, respec­tively. Per­for­mance in con­trol ­dribble (13.70±0.96 s), ­speed ­dribble (4.24±0.75 s), ­high inten­sity ­shuttle run (27.90±1.04 s) and ­dribble ­shuttle run (29.50±1.22 s) was cor­re­lated ­with ­Pmean (r=-0.58, r=-0.62, r=-0.56 and r=-0.73, respec­tively, p<0.05). Per­cent ­body fat was neg­a­tively cor­re­lated ­with all the ­above ­field ­tests (r=0.63, r=0.57, r=0.66, r=0.65, respec­tively, p<0.05).
Con­clu­sion. ­These ­players pre­sented a mod­erate V.O2max and anaer­obic ­power. The sig­nif­i­cant cor­re­la­tion ­between ­Pmean and cer­tain ­field ­tests indi­cates ­that ­these ­tests ­could be ­used for the assess­ment of anaer­obic ­capacity of ­young bas­ket­ball ­players.