Abstract
Purpose: There are currently no data describing combined practice and game load demands throughout a National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The primary objective of this study was to integrate external load data garnered from all on-court activity throughout an NBA season, according to different activity and player characteristics.Methods: Data from 14 professional male basketball players (mean ± SD; age, 27.3 ± 4.8 years; height, 201.0 ± 7.2 cm; body mass, 104.9 ± 10.6 kg) playing for the same club during the 2017–2018 NBA season were retrospectively analyzed. Game and training data were integrated to create a consolidated external load measure, which was termed integrated load. Players were categorized by years of NBA experience (1-2y, 3-5y, 6-9y, and 10 + y), position (frontcourt and backcourt), and playing rotation status (starter, rotation, and bench).Results: Total weekly duration was significantly different (p < 0.001) between years of NBA playing experience, with duration highest in 3–5 year players, compared with 6–9 (d = 0.46) and 10+ (d = 0.78) year players. Starters experienced the highest integrated load, compared with bench (d = 0.77) players. There were no significant differences in integrated load or duration between positions.Conclusion: This is the first study to describe the seasonal training loads of NBA players for an entire season and shows that a most training load is accumulated in non-game activities. This study highlights the need for integrated and unobtrusive training load monitoring, with engagement of all stakeholders to develop well-informed individualized training prescription to optimize preparation of NBA players.
Highlights
In basketball, external training load data can inform decision-making regarding periodization (Schelling and Torres-Ronda, 2013) and injury reduction strategies (Caparrós et al, 2018), which may lead to optimized player health and physical performance (Halson, 2014)
The study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS; HREC # ETH18-2658), and consent was granted by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the NBA Players Association as per the guidelines and requirements for “NBA related health research” governed by the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA; NBA.com, 2017)
Descriptions of mean weekly duration spent in different activity categories, drill types, and tactical emphasis are shown in Figure 1 based on seasonal phase and shown in Figure 2 based on player rotation status, respectively
Summary
External training load data can inform decision-making regarding periodization (Schelling and Torres-Ronda, 2013) and injury reduction strategies (Caparrós et al, 2018), which may lead to optimized player health and physical performance (Halson, 2014). Because the relationship among multiple systems is poorly understood, much of the current basketball literature reports external load data isolated to either practice or competition (Teramoto et al, 2017; Caparrós et al, 2018; Lewis, 2018), with limited research describing integrated, season-long load demands. As only half of the days in the regular season include games, there is a significant amount of time available for non-game court work or recovery Despite this significant amount of time available for non-game activity, there is currently no study that describes the combined practice and game load demands in professional basketball throughout an entire season
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