Deliberate Practice, Functional Performance and Psychological Characteristics in Young Basketball Players: A Bayesian Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

Background: Early sport specialization has increased its popularity mostly based on the deliberate practice theory premises. In this study, we examined the influence of the age of onset of deliberate basketball practice on body size, functional performance (countermovement jump, line drill and yo-yo intermittent recovery level 1), motivation for achievement and competitiveness, motivation for deliberate practice and sources of enjoyment among young Brazilian basketball players. In addition, we adjusted for the influence of gender, age group, maturity status and state basketball federation on the outcomes. Methods: The sample included 120 female and 201 male adolescent basketball players aged 14.0 (1.7) years, on average. We grouped players by the age of onset of deliberate basketball practice as related to biologic maturation milestones (pre-puberty deliberate practice onset, mid-puberty deliberate practice onset and late-puberty deliberate practice onset). Results: There was no substantial variation among contrasting players by the onset of deliberate practice in all of the outcomes. Adjusting for gender, male players with late-puberty deliberate practice onset had better functional performance than players with pre- and mid-puberty onset of practice. Females players with late-puberty deliberate practice onset had slightly worst functional performance than players with pre- and mid-puberty onset of practice. Conclusions: Early deliberate basketball practice does not appear to provide an advantage for the development of physiological functions. Likewise, enjoyment, motivation for deliberate practice and motivation for achievement and competition do not appear to be negatively influenced by early deliberate basketball practice. The debate about the relationship between time spent in deliberate practice and performance development in young athletes will need to emphasize the coaching pedagogical quality and the training environment and account for informal practice and deliberate play.

Multidimensional characteristics of young Brazilian volleyball players: A Bayesian multilevel analysis

“…The Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire, composed of 19 items and rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = completely disagree to 5 = completely agree), assesses four dimensions of achievement: personal unconcern, work, mastery, and competitiveness. This study only used the last three subscales, consistent with previous studies with youth sports samples [ 4 , 20 , 36 ].…”

“…We derived the references for gender-specific age at PHV based on a meta-analysis of longitudinal growth studies summarized elsewhere [ 29 ]. The reference age at PHV was 11.9 (90% confidence interval: 11.8,12.0) years and 13.9 (90% confidence interval; 13.8, 14.0) years for girls and boys, respectively [ 20 ]. Then we classified players as follows: early maturers (n = 68), when estimated age at PHV was lower than the gender-specific reference age at PHV by more than six months; average maturers (n = 81) when players´ estimated age at PHV was within plus/minus six months of the gender-specific age at PHV; late maturers (n = 13), when estimated age at PHV was higher than the gender-specific reference age at PHV by more than six months.…”

“…The onset of deliberate volleyball was interpreted relative to pubertal growth milestones, the ages of onset of the pubertal growth spurt, and at PHV [ 20 ]. We grouped the players by the onset of deliberate volleyball practice as follows: pre-puberty deliberate volleyball practice onset (n = 17), the players who started practice before the reference age of pubertal growth spurt onset (female: 9.4 years, 90% confidence interval: 9.1 to 9.7; male: 11.1 years, 90% confidence interval: 10.8 to 11.5); mid-puberty deliberate volleyball practice onset (n = 83), the players starting practice between the reference ages of pubertal growth spurt onset age and at PHV; late-puberty deliberate volleyball practice onset (n = 62), the players starting practice after the reference age at PHV.…”

Características Psicológicas en Deportistas con Discapacidad Física (Psychological Characteristics in athletes with physical disability)

“…Las CP están afectadas por la experiencia deportiva, y por consiguiente del rendimiento deportivo (Li et al, 2020;Lima et al, 2020). Ha sido interés de los investigadores comprender las diferencias en el rendimiento entre deportistas expertos vs amateurs o nodeportistas (Rothwell et al, 2017;Ruiz-Esteban et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020).…”

Revisiting the Relative Age Effect From a Multidisciplinary Perspective in Youth Basketball: A Bayesian Analysis

“…Contrasting results about the eventual persistence of the bias in adult sport, depending on sport and contexts of competition have been noted (Werneck et al, 2016 ; Johnson et al, 2017 ; Haycraft et al, 2018 ; Rubajczyk and Rokita, 2018 ; Lupo et al, 2019 ; Kelly et al, 2020 ). However, the purpose of the present study is not to document the survival of the RAE during the path to expertise, but to investigate if the decision made by the coach when selecting athletes born in the first quarter of the year has effective consequences for the athletes' performance.…”