Differences in External Load Variables Between Playing Positions in Elite Basketball Match-Play

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the specific demands and structure of interrelationships of external load variables in order to generate a position-related time motion profile in elite basketball. Seventeen professional players from three different playing positions (6 guards, 4 forwards, and 7 centers) were analyzed in five friendly games. Player load per minute (PLmin) was used as an indicator of intensity to compare positions. Furthermore, high and total external variables of jumping (hJUMP and tJUMP), acceleration (hACC and tACC), deceleration (hDEC and tDEC) and change of direction (hCOD and tCOD), respectively, were used for the principal component analysis (PCA). The Kaiser criterion (eigenvalue > 1) was applied, and the Varimax rotation mode was used to extract multiple principal components. PCA showed that all positions had three or four principal components, but the configuration of each factor was different: tCOD, hCOD, hDEC and hJUMP for guards, hCOD, tCOD, tACC and hDEC for forwards, and tJUMP, hJUMP, hDEC and tACC for centers were specifically demanded in match-play. For guards and forwards, a significant correlation was found between COD variables, while for centers tCOD and PLmin had the strongest correlation. When monitoring the external load via tri-axial accelerometers in basketball match-play, each playing position showed specific physical demands. Therefore, these variables must be prioritized in load monitoring programs.

Quantifying Training and Game Demands of a National Basketball Association Season

“…The present study showed no significant differences for integrated load or duration based on playing position. Previous research investigating external load in basketball by position has concluded that acceleration, deceleration, change of direction, and intensity demands varied based on position (i.e., centers, and forwards; Svilar et al, 2018;Salazar et al, 2020a). However, the absence of differences between positions in the present study suggests that positional categorizations may be less important when evaluating global measures of external load (e.g., player load) and developing training plans throughout an NBA season.…”

“…Describing external load based on individual player characteristics is also important in better understanding the training dose-response relationship over time. Differences in basketball player characteristics that have been previously investigated include position (Svilar et al, 2018;Salazar et al, 2020a) and playing rotation status (Conte et al, 2018;Vazquez-Guerrero et al, 2018). Professional basketball can employ a wide range of experience levels, from draftees right out of college to veteran players who have been in the NBA for decades.…”

Physical Demands in Three Different Basketball Competitions Played By the Same Under-18 Players

“…As in previous studies in basketball (Svilar et al, 2018;Salazar et al, 2020), a combination of variables was used to estimate the frequency of total and high-intensity actions. This strategy provided more detailed information on the physical demands of the players (Fox et al, 2020).…”

Reducing Big Data to Principal Components for Position-Specific Futsal Training

“…These results showed differentiated variables of importance to match performance for defenders (i.e., distances at different intensities, sprint, PL, impacts, speed, acceleration, maximum decelerations, heart rate, and impacts), forwards (i.e., heart rate, accelerations and the distance at different intensities, decelerations, sprint, TL, maximum speed, and impacts), and midfielders (i.e., distances at different intensities, accelerations, speed, decelerations, heart rate, impacts, and sprints). In basketball, Salazar, et al (2020) analyzed 17 professional players from three different playing positions (guards, forwards, and centers) during friendly games and identified 3–4 different PC, related to playing positions. Specifically, game demands for guards involved total and high-intensity changes of direction and high-intensity decelerations and jumps, game demands for forwards were mainly total and high-intensity changes of direction, total accelerations, and high-intensity decelerations, and game demands for centers were total and high-intensity jumps, high-intensity decelerations, and total accelerations.…”