Repeated Sprint Ability in Young Basketball Players (Part 2): The Chronic Effects of Multidirection and of One Change of Direction Are Comparable in Terms of Physiological and Performance Responses.

Giuseppe Attene,Elena Mannucci Pacini,Pantelis T Nikolaidis,Marcello Oggianu,Gian M Migliaccio,Fabio Pizzolato,Juliano Dal Pupo,Nicola L Bragazzi,Alessandro M Zagatto,Antonio Dello Iacono,Johnny Padulo

doi:10.3389/fphys.2016.00262

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 5-week training program, consisting of repeated 30-m sprints, on two repeated sprint ability (RSA) test formats: one with one change of direction (RSA) and the other with multiple changes of direction (RSM). Thirty-six young male and female basketball players (age 16.1 ± 0.9 years), divided into two experimental groups, were tested for RSA, RSM, squat jump, counter-movement jump, and the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery-Level-1 (Yo-Yo IR1) test, before and after a 4-week training program and 1 week of tapering. One group performed 30-m sprints with one change of direction (RSA group, RSAG), whereas the other group performed multidirectional 30-m sprints (RSM group, RSMG). Both groups improved in all scores in the post-intervention measurements (P < 0.05), except for the fatigue index in the RSM test. However, when comparing the two groups, similar effects were found for almost all parameters of the tests applied, except for RPE in the RSA test, which had a greater decrease in the RSAG (from 8.7 to 5.9) than in the RSMG (from 8.5 to 6.6, P = 0.021). We can conclude that repeated 30-m sprints, either with one change of direction or multidirectional, induce similar physiological and performance responses in young basketball players, but have a different psycho-physiological impact.

Highlights

Repeated sprint ability (RSA) has been identified as a key component of physical fitness in team sports, especially in basketball (Bishop et al, 2001; Spencer et al, 2005; Padulo et al, 2015b, 2016)
RPE was lower among females, of the RSAG group with respect to other groups, with this difference becoming statistically significant at the end of the training period
For all the variables of the repeated sprint ability (RSA) test, mean and standard deviation (SD) and 95% of confidence interval are reported, divided by groups trained with RSA (RSAG) and Repeated Sprint Multidirection (RSM) (RSMG), and the general improvement of the two groups together (Total)

Summary

Introduction

Repeated sprint ability (RSA) has been identified as a key component of physical fitness in team sports, especially in basketball (Bishop et al, 2001; Spencer et al, 2005; Padulo et al, 2015b, 2016). A novel sport-specific test that includes sprints performed forwards and backwards, to the left and backwards, and to the right and backwards (RSA—multidirectional; RSM) has been developed (Padulo et al, 2015b, 2016). These studies have improved the understanding of the acute physiological responses to the variety of RSA tests, there is a surprisingly limited body of research investigating their chronic effects.

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Conclusion