Assessing basketball ability in players with mental retardation.

BACKGROUND

Although athletes with mental retardation (MR) have achieved an important role, literature concerning the evaluation tests in basketball is still poor.

OBJECTIVE

To assess basketball ability before and after a 4-month training performed before championship for athletes with MR and to correlate ability variations with MR levels.

METHODS

15 trained basketball players with MR (11 men and 4 women; age range 21-43 years; MR: 3 mild, 8 moderate, 8 severe and 1 profound). Athletes were tested before (pre) and after (post) 4 month training preceding the championship. The tests assessed 4 levels of ability, each one characterised by 4 fundamental areas of this game: ball handling, reception, passing and shooting. Each area was divided into 5 specific components.

RESULTS

The team average score, based on the score of each athlete's 4 levels, improved by 6.6 points (41.6 (SD 11.9) vs 48.2 (14.7)). The comparison between pre and post scores in each level showed increases (p<0.01), especially in level II (14.4 (3.5) vs 16.5 (3.3)) and in level III (7.1 (5.7) vs 9.2 (6.6)). Within level II, ball handling (3.67 (1.2) vs 4.37 (0.5); p<0.05) and passing (3.20 (1.2) vs 3.97 (1.3); p<0.01) improved; in level III reception (3.21 (1.1) vs 3.73 (1.1); p = 0.01) and shooting (1.82 (1.1) vs 2.45 (1.3); p<0.05) increased.

CONCLUSIONS

A 4 month training caused a general improvement, especially evident in levels II and III. Total score reached in level II was negatively correlated with MR level (r = -0.56; p<0.05), indicating that athletes with lower MR obtained higher scores.