Basketball is an intermittent acyclic sport whose motor actions vary from medium to high intensity (Borin et al, 2007; Nunes et al, 2006; Shelling & Torres-Ronda, 2016).
Also, basketball can be classified as an open activity due to the unpredictable and changing variations that occur in the game environment (Nunes et al, 2006).
In the opinion of Moreira & Paes (2011), basketball is a multidirectional sport, with intermittent characteristics.
A basketball athlete to be successful in the sport needs to be properly fit in the right circumstances.
In the conception of Fileni et al (2019), in terms of physical fitness, it is no use for the basketball player to be tall, strong, to jump higher, it is also imperative that the player is faster and faster on the court.
In this sense, Schelling & Torres-Ronda (2013) argue that a basketball player must have some characteristics to stand out among the others: 1) - run faster than his opponents, 2) - acquire sufficient strength and balance to support the physical contact, 3) - jump higher and faster than the others, and 4) - be able to withstand the physiological demands required in matches with low fatigue.
The biomotor capabilities involved with functional performance in basketball are: endurance (ATP-CP, glycolytic and aerobic), strength (strength endurance, hypertrophy, maximum strength, power and power endurance), speed (reaction, movement and displacement), agility, balance (static, dynamic and recovered), coordination and flexibility-mobility.
Of these biomotor capabilities mentioned, speed stands out. Speed can be a differential factor, both collective and individual.
In the collective aspect, a team that plays at a higher speed than the opposing team, if well tactically structured, has a high probability of triumph.
Reflecting on the individual aspect, an athlete who stands out from the others for his speed can contribute significantly to his team.
In sports training theory, each author has a vision about the concept of speed. In the literature, speed is considered a complex biomotor capacity.
A very interesting concept of speed is that presented by Bompa & Haff (2012): "speed is the expression of a set of skills and abilities that allow high speeds of movement".
In short, we can say that speed is defined as the ability to perform motor actions and \ or tasks with a certain speed (Dintiman et al, 1999; Hoffman & Graham, 2015; Platonov, 2008).
Dintman et al (1999), Hoffman & Graham, (2015), and Bompa & Haff (2012) point out that speed has a direct relationship with force (maximum and explosive) as well as with the physiological systems of energy production (ATP -CP and lactic anaerobic).
In this context, Bompa & Haff (2012) recall about the essential factors involved in the neuromuscular system that affect speed: the composition of muscle fibers, the speed of transmission of the nervous impulse, and neural fatigue.
We cannot forget that when we try to discuss speed in sport, an agent that deserves to be highlighted is genetics (Dintman et al, 1999; Hoffman & Graham, 2015).
Also, we have the technical system to perform the task: amplitude and frequency of strides, as well as the athlete's biomechanical locomotor apparatus for its performance (Bompa & Haff, 2012).
Speed is a crucial element that separates beginning athletes from advanced athletes (Moreira et al, 2003a; Hoffman & Graham, 2015).
Some expressions of speed in basketball can be seen in the moment of explosive acceleration during the attack phase, in a quick change of direction, in a fast and repeated jump, etc.
Therefore, this text intends to address the question of the importance and characteristics of specific speed in basketball.
✅ The Speed in Basketball
Basketball players move during a match with a great change of pace (Rodrigues, 2014).
In the English language, the most appropriate term would be the word "pacing".
This rhythm or pacing, directly influences the speed printed on the athletes' motor actions.
With the changes suffered in the rules of the game in the year 2000, there was a reduction in the attack ball time (from 30 seconds to 24 seconds) and, also, a decrease in the time to cross the defense court (from 10 seconds to 8 seconds). seconds) (Abdelkrim et al, 2007).
These adaptations to the rule made the game more dynamic and at a faster pace.
Basically, there are three classifications of intensities that permeate a match: low, moderate and high. Since, at high intensity is where the presence of speed in its different manifestations is most clearly observed ...
Schelling & Torres-Ronda (2016) talk about density in a basketball game. According to the authors, there are actions from medium to high intensity (density 1: 1, that is, approximately 15 seconds of effort for 15 seconds of pause) and also actions from high to maximum intensity (density 1:10, that is, 2 seconds of effort for 20 seconds of pause).
If we notice it empirically, we can speculate that the pacing (rhythm) of game that is printed in the NBA is much more accelerated than the basketball games of our national championship (NBB - New Basketball Brazil).
To get a sense, Tuttle et al (2020) point out the defense's running speed in the NBA, which is around 6.2+\-0.8 km \ h and the attack, on average 7.2+\-0.6 km h.
Basketball speed is expressed in different ways. In matches, it is evident that there are two striking circumstances in which players can demonstrate speed: with ball and without ball.
In this text, we will discuss three manifestations of speed in basketball, namely: reaction speed, speed of movement and speed of displacement.
✅ 1) - Reaction Speed
The reaction speed is also referred to in the scientific literature as reaction time (Dintman et al, 1999; Platonov, 2008; Magill, 2011).
The speed of reaction manifests itself through decision making in a very short time.
It is the player's sensory organs through stimuli from the external environment that will trigger the reaction speed.
From the point of view of Magill (2011) the reaction speed is the amount of time that is used to see, feel or hear sensory stimulation.
We can list the following sensory stimuli in a basketball game: auditory (as for example, through some audible warning from the teammate) visual (as for example, through the visualization of the ball's trajectory) and the kinesthetic (as for example, through motor coordination of movements).
Seeking to interpret a neural approach to movement, Neto et al (2010) points out that the motor response performed at the reaction speed starts in the cerebral cortex through the selective processing of information that reaches the central nervous system originating from the sensory organs (visual, auditory) and \ or kinesthetic).
Complements this information Dintman et al (1999), recalling the valuable training of the brain, which would allow the player to develop sufficient aptitude to respond in a timely manner to the variability of sensory stimuli in the game.
Rodrigues (2014) warns that the reaction speed in basketball is fundamental for the athlete, because in a match, there is a real need to react to the innumerable types of sensory stimuli of unpredictable order.
According to the aforementioned author, the reaction speed significantly contributes to the athlete's agility, demonstrating to produce efficient movements that involve changes of direction in short and small spaces.
This type of agility is called reactive agility (Bompa & Haff, 2012).
A basketball player who makes decisions quickly and effectively in matches has a well-worked reaction speed.
In reality, the athlete with these attributes knows how to respond with advanced property, in a timely manner, to the following formulations: what to do, how to do it and when to do it, given the difficulties faced in a game.
Finally, reaction speed is a physical skill that, if well trained, would help players to solve more quickly a variety of variations of tactical problems that arise in a match.
✅ 2) - Movement Speed
The speed of movement is linked to the frequency of the execution of a certain movement pattern in a task.
Dintman et al (1999) reinforce that the movement speed would be a temporal analysis of a respective motor task.
Passes, dribbles, basket shots, jumps, and rebounds are examples of movement patterns that are affected by movement speed.
When a player makes a three-point shot, the angular speed of each joint in his body reacts with a certain speed of movement. It is called joint torque that will generate the movement speed, slow or fast.
To get an idea of the relevance of movement speed, players usually perform around 1000 different motor actions during a match (Schelling & Torres-Ronda, 2013).
The best interpretation of the movement speed, part of paying attention to the space-time perception in the realization of the movement speed of the various tasks accomplished in a game.
Take, for example, the jump to a block. The objective is to jump and block the opponent's possible throw. How many times can the player jump and block at the same movement speed?
It may be that in the first quarters of the match when he is not yet fatigued, the player makes this jump to the block in his frequency of movements quickly and maximum ... That is, reaching a high jump height and in the correct time to be able execute the block with due safety and efficiency ...
However, in the last quarter of the match, when the fatigue may be configured, this speed of movement of the jump is not so maximum ...
In a practical approach: in the first quarters of the game the basketball player jumps 65.0 cm vertically to block at a high movement speed ... In contrast, in the final moments of the game, thinking about the effect of fatigue, it may be that this speed of movement provide the athlete with a maximum blocking jump of 49.0 cm ... That is, a significant reduction ...
It can be seen there, the importance of developing a physical preparation aimed at resistance training of movement speed to reduce the effects of fatigue, and obtaining a constant movement speed throughout the game ...
✅ 3) - Displacement Speed
According to Moreira et al (2003a) the speed of displacement in basketball is a determining element for athletic performance.
We know that the speed of travel is nothing more than the speed of body movement of the athlete in space.
Shifting a player's body weight at high speeds is ensured by the muscular capacity to overcome external resistance (Moreira et al, 2003a).
A basketball athlete who weighs between 80-120 kilos, and a height between 1.80 to 2.10 meters, must make a considerable effort to move his body at high speed of movement.
According to Moreira et al (2003b), there seems to be a high correlation between the speed of displacement in basketball, with the maximum anaerobic power.
The speed of travel in acyclic sports such as basketball, is evident in the constant accelerations, decelerations and changes of direction that occur in a match.
Rodrigues (2014) reports that in high intensity and short game actions, on average, players travel no more than 10 meters of displacement.
These types of displacements include: running in a straight line, running with dribbling, lateral displacements, back displacement, among others.
A peculiarity observed in the study conducted by Gebrin & Oliveira (2006), is that the lateral displacements used in defensive situations, do not generally exceed the distance of 5 meters.
Adding to this, the respective authors found that in the moment of offensive-defensive transition, the maximum footage traveled at speed oscillates around 15 meters.
That said, it is clear that the maximum travel speed, also called peak speed, is hardly reached very often in a game.
However, this does not mean that basketball players should not be trained over longer distances. An appropriate training model would involve developing accelerative travel speeds over distances between 5.10 and 15 meters, as well as travel speeds over longer distances ranging between 20.25 and 30 meters.
In this sense, Bompa & Haff (2012) affirm that the acceleration is printed in distances between 5 to 10 meters and, only in distances superior to 20-30 meters, is that the athlete is able to reach the maximum speed of displacement.
In this respect, the need to train basketball players' acceleration capacity would arise. Acceleration is the breaking of inertia through the ability to explode in the first few strides.
Morin et al (2015), when studying world-class sprinters, observed that the fastest athletes in the displacement speed were those who knew how to apply greater horizontal propulsive force of reaction to the ground.
The ground reaction force is the force that the athlete exerts on the sole of the foot when accelerating (Hoffman & Graham, 2015).
In other words, in the words of Boyle (2018): the force of reaction to the ground is the force that the athlete's foot exerts against the ground.
There is a decisive contribution from explosive strength and velocity resistance to adequately sustain the travel speed.
It is worth mentioning that the rate of force development (in English Rate of Force Development) plays a major role in the performance of tasks performed at high speed in games such as sprints, accelerations, jumps, changes of direction, etc. (Schelling & Torres-Ronda , 2016).
Another issue involved in the speed of travel is how the athlete performs the frequency and amplitude of his strides. Theoretically, the greater the frequency and amplitude of the strides, the greater the travel speed (Dintman et al 1999; Bompa & Haff, 2012; Hoffman & Graham, 2015).
In the meantime, basketball players could be benefited, given that they have long lower limbs, facilitating their biomechanics and execution kinematics, through the construction of frequency and amplitude of long strides.
It corroborates our perspective, Hoffman & Graham (2015) when stating that athletes with long limbs and who have fast-twitch muscle fibers have a physiological and biomechanical advantage in the speed of displacement.
The body composition of basketball players directly affects the speed of travel. Athletes with a high percentage of fat at the expense of lean mass, end up having to generate greater production of strength per kilogram of body weight to be able to generate high speeds (Rinaldo et al, 2020).
In this regard, Abdelkrim et al (2010) call the additional body weight generated by the high percentage of fat "dead weight"
From there, the importance of controlling the body weight of our basketball players emerges, so that their percentage of body fat is within convenient standards.
In indoor sports, when comparing the travel speed of young basketball and futsal players, at a distance of 20 meters, Fileni et al (2019) found no significant differences in favor of either group.
In the study by Rodrigues (2014), the longitudinal behavior of the 10-meter and 20-meter speed was investigated in young basketball players (under-14 category) during a macrocycle.
The crucial element in the research was that the aforementioned author analyzed the athletes' displacement speed (distances of 10 and 20 meters) without ball and with ball.
This fact, that some physical trainers do not pay attention when performing the speed tests. There is relevance in analyzing the travel speed with and without the ball. The use of the ball in displacement speed tests respects the principle of specificity, as it allows to measure the speed of your athlete in a situation that simulates a game.
✅ 4) - Speed Endurance
Finally, I would like to explain about speed endurance.
Speed endurance is the ability of the basketball player to be able to maintain the speed levels (reaction, movement and displacement) without substantial losses throughout the game, minimizing the effect of fatigue.
Dintman et al (1999) use the term "sustained power" when referring to speed resistance. In the scientific literature in the English language, the term "power endurance" is used.
One of the ways to assess speed resistance in basketball is by assessing the ability to repeat sprints.
In this sense, Braz et al (2018) verified the effects of strength and technical-tactical training on the ability to repeat sprints in female basketball players
At the end of the study, it was found that during the pre-season training period (four weeks), 75% of the athletes showed significant improvements.
In the case mentioned above, repeating sprints improves the travel speed endurance.
However, it is also essential to develop the speed endurance in the reaction and movement speeds, which is achieved through special training methods.
One of the special methods for training speed endurance in its various manifestations (reaction, movement and displacement) would be through reduced games (1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, etc.).
These reduced games can be implemented in different contexts, namely: half court or whole court, with different adapted rules and technical-tactical situations inspired by the coach's game model matrix, with levels of complexity ranging from low to high complexity ( Shelling & Torres-Ronda, 2013; Nunes et al, 2006; Moreira & Paes, 2011; Pivetti, 2012).
✅ Final Considerations
- The manifestation of speed is present in basketball with its manifestation forms as follows: reaction speed, movement speed, displacement speed and speed endurance.
- It is essential to create an organization and rational structuring of training aimed at speed so that the basketball player reaches movement standards at high levels of excellence.
- Speed training must be contemplated respecting the age of the athletes to be trained. While younger players need a multifaceted approach, adult athletes need speed training that takes into account the specificity of the tactical position that the player exercises.
- When making the prescription of speed programs for basketball, we must respect two essential basic principles: biological individuality and specificity.
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