Player chronotype does not affect shooting accuracy at different times of the day in a professional, male basketball team: a pilot study

Abstract

Athlete chronotype has been documented to underpin diurnal variations in skill execution across various team sports. However, no research has explored the effects of athlete chronotype on basketball-specific skills at different times of the day. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore diurnal variations in basketball shooting accuracy according to chronotype. Professional, male basketball players (n = 13) completed a Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire and were categorised into chronotypes using a tertile split technique (morning-types: n = 4; neither-types: n = 4; evening-types: n = 5). Players completed separate trials of a shooting accuracy test in the morning (08:00-09:30h) and afternoon (15:00-16:30h) with each trial consisting of 20 shots attempted from four court locations at either two-or three-point distances and one-shot location from the free-throw line (100 shots in total). Each shot attempt was scored using a 0-3-point scale with higher scores awarded to more accurate shots. Non-significant (p >0.05) differences in shooting scores were evident between morning and afternoon trials for each chronotype group, with small-large effects in shooting scores favouring the morning across groups. Moreover, non-significant (p >0.05) differences in shooting scores were apparent between chronotype groups in the morning (small-large effects) and afternoon (moderate-large effects). Shooting accuracy appears to remain consistent across morning and afternoon performances irrespective of player chronotype in a professional basketball team, suggesting coaches may not need to schedule training sessions involving shooting tasks at specific times of the day to optimise shooting accuracy in players. Headings: Sleep; Circadian Rhythm; Team Sports; Motor Skills.

School Attendance, Chronotype, and Day-of-the-Week Effect in Adolescent Male Basketball Players

“…Before us, only Suppiah and colleagues (2016) reported that adolescent athletes’ reaction times in the second part of the week are slower compared with the reaction times in the first part of the week (Suppiah et al, 2016). Previous works focusing on individual chronobiology and basketball-specific skills, instead, mainly explored the effect of the interaction between chronotype and time of day (Pengelly et al, 2022). However, our study has limitations that should be discussed.…”

Motoric performance variation from morning to evening: 80% intensity post-activation potentiation protocol impacts performance and its diurnal amplitude in basketball players

“…Although no evaluation was made regarding the preparation and self-reported sleep of basketball players in our study, the fact that it had a positive effect on performance values measured in the evening is similar to our study. Pengelly et al (2022) investigated chronotype-dependent diurnal variations in basketball shooting accuracy. The researchers examined non-significant changes in shooting scores between morning and afternoon trials for each chronotype group, with small-to-large impacts favoring the morning across all chronotypes.…”

“…Furthermore, variations in shooting scores between chronotype groups in the morning (small-large effects) and afternoon were not statistically significant (moderate-large effects) ( Pengelly et al, 2022 ). Pengelly et al (2021) identified the effect of player chronotype on in-game basketball performance during evening games.…”