Tracking Technical Skill Development in Young Basketball Players: The INEX Study.

Eduardo Guimarães,Adam D G Baxter-Jones,A Mark Williams,Fernando Tavares,Manuel A Janeira,José Maia

doi:10.3390/ijerph18084094

Abstract

This study investigated developmental stability, or tracking, in the development of technical skills in youth male basketball players and retrospectively profiled stable and unstable tracking patterns over time. A total of 97 basketball players were tracked bi-annually over 3 consecutive years. Players were divided into two age-categories according to their age at baseline: under-12; and under-14. Technical skills were assessed using the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance test battery. Anthropometric, body composition, biological maturation and physical performance data were collected. Cohen’s kappa (κ) was used to estimate tracking. With the exception of defensive movement in the under-12 age-category, tracking was low in all skill tests for both under-12 (0.22 ≤ κ ≤ 0.33) and -14 (0.20 ≤ κ ≤ 0.26) groupings. The overall technical skill showed moderate tracking for under-12 players (κ = 0.47) and low tracking for under-14 players (κ = 0.26). At baseline, players who were consistently more skilled or became more skillful (in the under-12 age-category) over time had a better growth-motor performance profile and most of them were selected to be members of regional teams. In conclusion, tracking of individual skill trajectories was low-to-moderate. Moreover, a better growth-motor performance profile seems crucial to maintain high levels of skill performance over time. It is recommended that basketball coaches track the developmental trajectories of their players to better understand the erratic nature of skill development and help design more effective practice regimes.

Highlights

While coaches are interested in how technical skills develop over time, most previous studies have been cross-sectionally designed and not suitable to describe the development of skill over time [1]
The findings showed a strong instability in individual trajectories over 3 years of skill development
The findings showed that a better growth-motor performance profile was crucial to maintain high levels of skill performance and to become more skillful over three years of development

Summary

Introduction

While coaches are interested in how technical skills develop over time, most previous studies have been cross-sectionally designed and not suitable to describe the development of skill over time [1]. Highlighting the importance of tracking longitudinal development of skill over time. Developmental continuity, or tracking, reflects both the relative stability of inter-individual differences in intra-individual change, as well as the potential to predict future values based on earlier assessments [2,3]. If it is possible to track the development of certain skill indicators, learners who are having difficulties can be identified at an early age and corrective practices introduced at these early ages. In order to develop corrections to skill development, it is important to profile trackers and non-trackers, retrospectively, so that interventions may be successful

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Discussion

Conclusion