Basketball Sports Performance: The Role of Strength & Conditioning
by Sean Miller
18th Jan 2023
Basketball is an intermittent game. It consists of high-intensity efforts followed by lower-intensity efforts, with intermittent stops in play. Less than half of the total playing time is spent in live play because of these intermittent stops in play. This allows for significant recovery between bouts of activity. Therefore, repeated high-intensity bouts of play are possible. Time motion analysis data has shown the duration of most high-intensity efforts are short (1-4secs & 1-15secs), immediately followed by low-intensity efforts, where most of the playing time in a competition is spent (standing, walking, jogging). It is important to note that contact during the game can increase the intensity of the slower moving tasks. In this blog you will read about the primary energy systems involved in basketball, the type of strength involved in basketball and a sample injury prevention protocol.
Energy System Development
The pre-season the training priority is to improve/develop rate of force development (RFD), impulse production and anaerobic capacity. Evidence suggests that anaerobic capacity is a better predictor of level of play than aerobic capacity. Studies have shown that aerobic and anaerobic capacity can be improved concurrently with the use of interval style training consisting of high-intensity exercise and short interval periods. Other studies show that extensive aerobic training can interfere with strength and power performance. Evidence suggests the energy needed to sustain play is primarily derived from non-oxidative metabolism (anaerobic), primarily the phosphagen (1-10sec) system, with a small portion being derived from glycolysis (10-90sec).
Example of Basic Court Based Pre-Season Conditioning Session
Reducing the Risk of Injury
Injury rates are higher in games than in practice. Most common are ankle injuries followed by knee injuries. Knee abduction has been identified as a risk factor for ACL injuries in female athletes and those with high knee abduction are more sensitive to improvements in this risk factor after neuromuscular training. It has been demonstrated through meta-analysis that neuromuscular based training reduces ACL injury. It is important to develop a injury prevention protocol that includes strengthening and developing stability in the muscles that surround the ankle knee and hip joints.
Example of a Basic Annual Injury Prevention Protocol / Gym Warm Up
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Strength & Power Development
The explosive nature of basketball requires substantial RFD and high levels of elastic/reactive strength for stretch shortening cycle actions like running and jumping. Concentric strength is needed to generate ground reaction force (GRF) for jumping and running, while eccentric strength is needed for absorption of extreme forces and power during explosive breaking from landing and deceleration. Quality application of force over a wide range of power outputs and muscle actions to achieve high movement velocities is critical for high performance.
Example of a Basic In-Season Power Focused Gym Session
Summary
Basketball is an intermittent game. It consists of high-intensity efforts followed by lower-intensity efforts, with intermittent stops in play. From a single training session perspective, training components that require task specificity and focus on RFD and impulse production (i.e., plyometrics and agility) should be planed early in the session. However, when it comes to metabolic conditioning during a single training session the intent is to stress the metabolic system thus creating related adaptions. To achieve effective results, it is important to integrate all training components of the basketball strength and conditioning programme but also with a major emphasis on managing fitness and fatigue. In managing fitness and fatigue, it is sensible to identify opportunities for recovery and plan training around them.
Seán Miller
Strength & Conditioning Coach, Ireland U20s Women’s Team
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