Abstract
This study aimed to identify how playing basketball with two additional baskets influences the players’ technical, physiological, physical and especially, positional performance. Fourteen youth players performed eight 5vs.5 simulated basketball games, four with the two official baskets and four with two-extra official baskets, each one placed in the court restricted area. The variables collected were technical (field-goals made and missed, offensive and defensive rebounds, steals, passes, dribble-drive, give-and-go and ball possessions), physiological (heart rate monotony and sample entropy), workload (total distance covered and distance covered at different velocities) and positioning-related (distance to the nearest opponent, distance to the nearest teammate, stretch-index and distance between centroids). The results showed that the four-baskets games favoured the emergence of individual behaviours, increasing the game' physical demands and promoting a collective dispersion, which might impair team playing. Conversely, when playing with two-baskets, there was less distance between teammates. In conclusion, this study has clear implications for practice as it emphasizes that coaches can manipulate the number of baskets to modulate training workload and promote different individual and team behaviours.
Highlights
Team sports are complex, dynamic and physically demanding activities, requiring players to adapt behaviours, manage disorder and respond to emergent situations of cooperation and opposition [1, 2]
New training methodologies like the constraints-led approach that favours the interaction between the player, task and surrounding environment have been explored
Between the two and four-baskets games, possible and likely-trivial differences were observed in HR monotony and HR sample entropy (sampEn), respectively
Summary
Dynamic and physically demanding activities, requiring players to adapt behaviours, manage disorder and respond to emergent situations of cooperation and opposition [1, 2]. Coaches are required to develop effective training environments to maximise learning opportunities. New training methodologies like the constraints-led approach that favours the interaction between the player, task and surrounding environment have been explored. The manipulation of the competitive environment (e.g., court configuration, scoring rules, numerical imbalance) [3,4,5], provides increased training variability, which has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of practice, and improve players’ adaptability to perturbations in the competitive environment [6,7,8].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
