Relationship between Performance and Inter-Limb Asymmetries Using Flywheel Resistance Device in Elite Youth Female Basketball Players

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to quantify inter-limb asymmetries from unilateral jumps, change of direction (COD) speed, and flywheel resistance skill tests and to examine their relationship with physical performance in a sample of elite youth female basketball players. Eleven female basketball players (age = 17.56 ± 0.60 year; body mass = 75.13 ± 12.37 kg; height = 1.83 ± 0.08 m; BMI = 22.42 ± 2.28; sports experience = 6.31 ± 1.73 year; years post-peak height velocity = 4.79 ± 0.68 year) performed a battery of fitness tests in the post-season consisting of the Single Leg Countermovement Jump in vertical (SLCJ-V), horizontal (SLCJ-H), and lateral (SLCJ-L) directions, 135° and 90° COD tests, and four skills (acceleration step, deceleration step, sidestep, and crossover step) with an flywheel resistance device. The results showed significant differences between the higher performing and lower performing limbs across all tasks (p < 0.05). The mean asymmetry index values ranged from 1.26% (COD 135°) to 11.75% (SLC-V). Inter-limb asymmetries were greatest during the flywheel resistance skills. Spearman’s correlations (ρ) for all tests were only significant for inter-limb asymmetries during the sidestep test and reduced performance in SLCJ-L (ρ = −0.61; p = 0.046) and all COD deficits (ρ range = −0.72 to −0.81). The findings of the present study showed that inter-limb asymmetries are task-specific in female youth basketball players and suggest that the use of flywheel devices can be included in the battery of tests to detect inter-limb asymmetry.

Ground Reaction Forces, Asymmetries and Performance of Change of Direction Tasks in Youth Elite Female Basketball Players

“…The findings of the present study are in agreement with previous research highlighting the presence of inter-limb asymmetry in youth elite female basketball players when performing COD tasks [ 36 , 37 ]. In both the COD 180° and COD 70° tests, significant differences were observed between HPL and LPL across all variables.…”

Why Sports Should Embrace Bilateral Asymmetry: A Narrative Review

“…Bilateral asymmetry (a broad term referring to bilateral trunk asymmetries or interlimb asymmetries) should be expected to be and is (probably) not even clinically relevant below the arbitrary thresholds of 5-15% [5,7,11,[44][45][46][47], with an emphasis on the arbitrariness of such thresholds since they are task-and metric-specific [7,11,12,[34][35][36][37][38][39]42,[48][49][50] and likely also individual-specific [42,[49][50][51][52][53]. Laterality (including, but not limited to, handedness, mastication, and eye dominance) is a well-established feature in the animal kingdom, including humans, and has been shown to be associated with increased functional performance [54][55][56][57][58][59].…”

Study on the Impact of Implementing an Exercise Program Using Fitlight Technology for the Development of Upper Limb Coordinative Abilities in Basketball Players

“…The use of intelligent sensors and information technologies can contribute to the optimization of the players’ techniques, with a focus on the change of technical skills, the ability to change direction, etc. [ 67 , 68 ] Also, training and performing technical skills in asymmetric conditions, specific to the game of basketball, has an essential impact [ 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ].…”