Effects of increasing physical strain on the free throw performance in basketball

Fromme A, Reer R, Thorwesten L, Wunschik M, Jerosch J

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effets of increasing physical strain on the free throw performance in basketball by means of a self-developed field test. This test imitated requirements adequate to thos during a real game. Material and Methods: We examined 20 basketball players of whom 10 (age: 23.1 ± 3.7 years, height: 193.8 ±7.6 cm, weight: 86.1 ± 10.3 kg) played in an upper division and 10 (age: 24.5 ± 4.1 years, height: 194.0 ±6.0 cm, weight: 86.4 ± 8.6 kg) in a lower division of the German Basketball Association. The players performed a controlled multi-step test in which runs of increasing strain alternated with two free throws carried out five times for each step. Results: Maximal heart rate was 185.3 ± 7.5 bpm and maximal lactate concentration 9.0 ± 1.6 mmol/l. Regarding heart rate and lactate concentration at maximal workload there were no significant differences between both teams. With respect to submaximal workload the team of the upperdivision showed significantly (p<0.05) lower lactate concentrations. The mean score of hits (73.8%) indicatet meither any deterioration related to increasing load nor any dependence on the players division. Diskussion: The results demonstrate that blood lactate conentrations as measured in our study do not have any negative effects on the precision of the free throw as an example for a mainly automated movment. With feference to these findings it has to be considered that the metabolicload during thes practice-oriented test was not maximal but after all clearly above the strain achieved during a real game.