Match and Motion Analyses of High Loading Movements in NCAA Men's Basketball Competitions

Abstract

Much research has been performed on movement patterns in soccer, netball, and ice hockey. However, little is known for basketball. No studies have been conducted on frequency and intensity of high loading movements such as different types of jumping and cutting movements in basketball. PURPOSE: To identify high loading activities and to examine frequency and intensity characteristics of movements of an NCAA Division-I men's basketball team. METHODS: Three home games were analyzed against two conference and one non-conference teams of the Southeast Conference during 2003–4 season. In the initial analysis, high loading movements and their levels of intensity were identified. These movements and intensity were included in the subsequent frequency analysis: low and high intensity 2-leg and 1-leg jumps, stops, lateral and v-cuts, and pivots (from a jump). The players were placed into the guard (guards and forwards) and center groups for the purpose of analysis. Two evaluators conducted the frequency counts of the movements on all players of the home team. The reliability of both evaluators was examined prior to the frequency analyses using an intra-class correlation analysis and a paired t-test. The position difference for frequency counts was analyzed with a one-way repeated measures ANOVA (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The paired t-test showed no significant differences between the two evaluators. The intra-class correlation analysis showed high intra-class coefficients (r = 0.87 - 0.99). The frequency analyses showed that each position player performed an average of 65 high loading movements during a game and 3 8 of them were jumping related. Fourteen or 38% of the jumps were identified as high intensity. The results also showed that an average of 8.3 lateral cuts (59%) and 5.7 V cuts (41%) was performed. The guards performed greater numbers of low running stop and lateral and V cuts, and fewer numbers of low intensity jumps and pivots than the centers. No significant difference was found for the high intensity jumps between the two positions. CONCLUSIONS: The results on the jumping movements are similar to professional competitions. This study provides a detailed profile of high loading movements during NCAA-I men's basketball games. Funded by a grant from adidas International.