The influence of basketball dribbling on repeated high-intensity intermittent runs.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: This research examines whether or not the Yo-Yo testing performance could reflect the repeatability of high-intensity intermittent dribbling in adolescent basketball players.

METHODS

Thirty-six teenage basketball players aged 13-18 years were invited to participate in this study.

RESULTS

A test-retest showed that the Yo-Yo intermittent endurance Level 2 (IE2) test with dribbling (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92; coefficient of variation = 12.6%;  = 0.24) and without dribbling (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.83; coefficient of variation = 15.0%;  = 0.37) had acceptable reliability. The dribbling distance covered was significantly shorter than was the running performance of the Yo-Yo IE2 test in participants younger than 15 years (junior; 1138 ± 417 m vs. 910 ± 299 m,  < 0.01;  = 0.65), as well as in the entire study sample (1077 ± 398 m vs. 1267 ± 437 m,  < 0.05;  = 0.45), whereas there was no significant difference in the senior players between the two protocols (1396 ± 436 m vs. 1244 ± 427 m,  > 0.05;  = 0.35). Moderate to large correlations were found between running and dribbling performances in the senior sample ( = 0.57,  = 0.06), the junior sample ( = 0.87,  < 0.01), and the whole ( = 0.72,  < 0.01) sample, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that the Yo-Yo IE2 test could reflect the repeatability of high-intensity intermittent basketball dribbling performance, while dribbling skills may have different influences on high-intensity intermittent exercise capacity in adolescent players at different ages.