Abstract
Optimizing basketball performance during the stages of long-term athlete development require to identify the trainability and variation of specific technical skills, when adjusting for anthropometric changes. The aim of this study was to describe differences in height, body mass, arm span, and technical-related fitness (movement, dribbling, shooting) along the long-term development of 7–17 years Lithuanian basketball players. This cross-sectional analysis involved a total of 1051 basketball players from the Sabonis Basketball Center in Lithuania. Testing sessions were performed during 1 day of the competition period in an indoor court. The participants performed technical-related fitness tests to assess dribbling (control dribble, 20 m dribble, two balls of 20 m dribble, Illinois agility dribble), shooting (30 free-throw shoots, 1 min shooting, modified medium and long-range shots, close range shots) and defensive movements. The dribbling skills had substantial improvements (7 to 8-years-old: 20 m sprint with dribbling, effect size = 1.86; control dribble effect size = 2.18; 9 to 10-year-old: 20 m sprint with dribbling, effect size = 1.85; Illinois agility test with dribbling effect size = 1.82). Changes in defensive movement occurred mostly at the 14–15-age period. The best periods to develop dribbling and shooting skills were between 7–10 and 12–13 years, whereas defensive movements can be trained in later adolescent years. Current results and consequent normative profiles, presented as percentile tables, allow to accurately follow the players’ development.
Highlights
The Long-term Athlete Development model outlines an appropriate training, competition and recovery program in relation to the developmental age of the individual (Balyi and Hamilton, 2004; Stafford, 2005; Balyi et al, 2009)
The typical weekly workloads planned and accomplished by these young basketball players aged constantly increased for the different age groups
Height was strongly correlated with the defensive movement test in 14–15 and 17 years
Summary
The Long-term Athlete Development model outlines an appropriate training, competition and recovery program in relation to the developmental age of the individual (Balyi and Hamilton, 2004; Stafford, 2005; Balyi et al, 2009). The outcomes may allow the establishment of normative player’s characteristic across different development stages This information may be used as guidelines to optimize the youth players’ long-term athlete development by identifying windows of trainability and variation of specific technical skills. There is available research focused on the players’ pathways (Leite and Sampaio, 2010, 2012), it remains unclear when the specific skills are most sensitive to certain areas of training during their development
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.
