Activity Profiles and Demands of Seasonal and Tournament Basketball Competition

Competition-specific conditioning for tournament basketball games is challenging, as the demands of tournament formats are not well characterized. Purpose: To compare the physical, physiological, and tactical demands of seasonal and tournament basketball competition and determine the pattern of changes within an international tournament. Methods: Eight elite junior male basketball players (age 17.8 +/- 0.2 y, height 1.93 +/- 0.07 m, mass 85 +/- 3 kg; mean +/- SD) were monitored in 6 seasonal games played over 4 mo in an Australian second-division national league and in 7 games of an international under-18 tournament played over 8 days. Movement patterns and tactical elements were coded from video and heart rates recorded by telemetry. Results: The frequency of running, sprinting, and shuffling movements in seasonal games was higher than in tournament games by 8-15% (99% confidence limits +/-similar to 8%). Within the tournament, jogging and low- to medium-intensity shuffling decreased by 15-20% (+/- similar to 14%) over the 7 games, while running, sprinting, and high-intensity shuffling increased 11-81% (+/-similar to 25%). There were unclear differences in mean and peak heart rates. The total number of possessions was higher in seasonal than in tournament games by 8% (+/- 10%). Conclusions: Coaches should consider a stronger emphasis on strength and power training in their conditioning programs to account for the higher activity of seasonal games. For tournament competition, strategies that build a sufficient aerobic capacity and neuromuscular resilience to maintain high-intensity movements need to be employed. A focus on half-court tactics accounts for the lower number of possessions in tournaments