Fitness Level and Body Composition of Elite Female Players in England Basketball League Division I

Abstract

Background: Basketball is one of the most practised sports in the world. There is a huge amount of articles analyzing the anthropometry of basketball players, the parameters of basketball, its physiological demands, and the fitness level of the teams. However, the vast majority of these studies focus on male basketball players. There are only a few studies working on British high-level female basketball teams. Research question: To evaluate and compare the body composition and fitness characteristics of elite British female basketball players in relation to other studies. Type of study: Descriptive study. Methods: 14 elite level female basketball players from a top-4 team that compete in the England Basketball League Division I voluntarily participated in this study. The anthropometry measurements performed were: weight, height, arm span, BMI, and skin folds. The fitness tests were: Flexibility (sit and reach), Agility 1 (4x10-meter shuttle run), Lower Body Power 1 (Standing Broad Jump), 20-meter shuttle run, Sprint (5 and 10-meter), Agility 2 (Left and Right), Lower Body Power 2 (Hop, Triple Hop, Cross-over Hop), and Yo-Yo Test. Results: Statistical differences were found between the right and left leg of players in the Triple hop (p=0.04) and Cross-over hop (p=0.01). Furthermore, regarding VO2max, statistical differences were found between the VO2max that had been calculated by Yo-Yo IR2 and the VO2max that had been calculated by the 20-meter shuttle run test, without taking into account the players' age (p=0.002). Conclusions: The sample analyzed of elite British female basketball players had fitness level and body composition values lower than high-level female basketball teams from countries where basketball is more popular and better developed.