Exploring how basketball players' tactical performances can be affected by activity workload

Aim. - The present study explored how basketball players' tactical performances can be affected by activity workload. Methods. - Ten junior male basketball players (age: 17.4 +/- 1.1 years, body mass: 78.0 +/- 9.2 kg, height: 182 +/- 7.6 cm, and experience: 4.7 +/- 1.6 years) played two 5 x 5 non-official basketball games during a 10-min period, interspersed with the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 test (additional fatiguing task). The variables analysed included the time spent in heart rate zones, the distances covered in speed zones and sprint activity. In addition, tactical performance was obtained by player's positioning captured at 5 Hz by GPS devices. The variables analysed were the distance between player and team centroid, distance between player and opponents' centroid and the Stretch index (i.e., the mean distance between all players and the team centroid). These variables were calculated for players' speeds below and above 13 km/h and teams' speeds below and above 11 km/h. Results. - There were decreases in distance covered between speed zones ranging from 10.0 to 17.9 km/h in the post-test (P <.001, eta(2)(p) = .15).However, the HR values and sprint activity were very similar. The Stretch index increased approximately 2 meters and all post-test positioning time-series showed more regularity in movements' variations (P =.004, eta(2)(p) =.16), thus, they were more predictable. The activity workload affected court positioning and consequently tactical performances. Particularly at faster speeds, the players' positioning were more predictable and suggested increased collective play, possibly because the effects from the workload activity refrained the players' from executing the same individual-based actions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.