Análisis de las demandas físicas competitivas en baloncesto, de la formación a la élite

Abstract

The physical demands in basketball are highly variable, depending on age, development, sex, competition level, and even geographical location, we can observe different demands imposed by the game on the athlete. The irruption of micro technology in the analysis of the training and competition processes gives professionals in this sport the opportunity to detect the specific needs of each age and competitive level, and thus be able to demand, during the training process, training demands similar to those that the athlete experiences in the competition, or lower, if the goal of the specific training session is recovery, providing this process with optimal specificity, volume and characteristics, improving the preparatory period and optimizing the work of the coaching staff. Due to the importance of these factors, this thesis has as its first general objective, the analysis of the load experienced by basketball players of different competitive levels during the development of official and unofficial matches, and as specific objectives: 1) The analysis of the technology available for monitoring and its use in previous studies, 2) The monitoring of male and female basketball players in junior (U-18) age in order to determine the physical differences between both groups during the competition, 3) The comparison between external load and internal load experienced by professional basketball players to determine the possible relationship between the two, 4) The analysis of the external load experienced during the competition by junior (U-18) basketball players, to determine the persistence of their physical performance through the different quarters of matches as well as throughout consecutive matches. For this, an initial review of all the studies that, to date, used technology to measure the Éoad in basketball was carried out, observing the most studied variables and those that best represented them. Subsequently, three studies were carried out in which both, the exteraä! end the internal load, were quantified during competitive events in groups of different äges and competitive levels (male and female Juniors (U18) and male professional players, specifically from the ACB league). The results of the studies presented indicate that internal load measures are positively correlated with external load measures and that both are necessary when structuring decision-making processes based on these measures. In addition, the demands for junior (U-18) players, differ depending on the different game positions, with perimeter players or outside positions developing the most external load during the game, both intensity and volume. There also seem to be differences in the external demands between men's and women's basketball, at least in players of junior age (UIS), these differences are mainly focused on the acceleration/deceleration ratios, which tend to be lower in male players compared to female players of that age, indicating higher demands at the level of external load for the first group. The ratios of the second group could be more positive due to the influence of the accumulation of sprints and high intensity running, especially in the guards and wings, having a possible negative impact on the prevention of injuries. In conclusion the external and internal load monitored during the competition in the different groups, as well as in the existing literature, indicates differences in demands between the different game positions and between genders, with the external positions being the ones that experience the greatest demands and highlighting the need for specific training stimulus for each group of players in that age to optimize training results.