Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Performance during Competition in Professional Women’s Basketball Players

Abstract

The evaluation of physical fitness in team sports is enjoying greater importance in the training of professional teams. The objectives of this research were to characterize physical fitness and game indicators based on the game position. This is an empirical study, with a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional methodology. In addition, different relationships between the level of physical fitness and the game indicators during the competition were determined. Finally, a predictive analysis of the selected variables was carried out in order to know the importance of the variables in the performance and at what time of the season they had the greatest impact. For this, a professional female basketball team (n = 12) with a mean age of 25.25 ± 7.617 years, height 178.25 ± 9.206 cm and a body mass of 72.33 ± 11.657 kg was analyzed. Each player was equipped with a WIMUPRO inertial device, and all competition statistics were analyzed. The results obtained show that there were no differences among all the skills evaluated and game indicators depending on the game position. Likewise, a relationship was determined between the level of physical fitness and the technical–tactical contribution, being different between different times of the season. Moreover, physical fitness only predicted the player’s final performance in the competition for female player centers in the first and second rounds of the championship, and for forwards in the first round. Four physical-physiological profiles with contributions to the different ones during the competition were also determined. Finally, three groups of female players by playing position were identified according to their sport performance, namely PIR, high, medium and low ratings, associated with physical performances. In all groups, there were significant differences between playing positions, PIR and physical performances.

Examining the Effects of Altitude on Workload Demands in Professional Basketball Players during the Preseason Phase

“…While an altitude effect occurred across all playing positions, the workload magnitudes differed between guards, forwards, and centers. Playing positions present different roles during the game that affect physical [19,20] and technical-tactical actions [21]. Guards covered more distance in high-speed running, change in direction, and acceleration/deceleration versus forwards and centers.…”

“…In addition, playing positions present different physical demands [19,20] and technicaltactical actions [21] due to their specific roles in the game. Different adaptations to altitude have been identified across playing positions.…”

“…Concerning internal responses, guards and forwards report higher in-game fatigue and perceive greater exertion, while centers experience more muscular pain and longer recovery times [22][23][24]. In terms of external workload demands, guards cover less distance but with greater intensity, forwards cover moderate total distances with mixed intensities, and centers have lower court time and distance but perform more static actions with contact on the paint [2,19,25].…”

Development of sport-specific performance parameters during international pre-matches among adolescent basketball players

“…Ramos et al found that agility positively in uenced the match performance among U14 basketball players (Ramos et al, 2020). Another Spanish study found that the result of multi-jump tests, the anaerobic capacity, and the agility test had the greatest in uence on the competition (Ibáñez et al, 2023). Against these, Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe et al (Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe et al, 2016) concluded that only the assists and steals per game correlated with any physical eld tests.…”

Kinematic and Neuromuscular Ranges of External Loading in Professional Basketball Players during Competition

“…The personalization of load should be based on knowledge of the demands imposed by competition [11][12][13]. Reina et al [14] stated that the personalization of external and internal load thresholds allows for tailoring training to the specific characteristics of each player, optimizing physiological adaptation, and enhancing individual performance by adjusting training volume and intensity according to their specific needs, thereby improving physical performance [15,16] and technical-tactical skills [17,18].…”