Physiology of Basketball - Field Tests. Review Article

The game of basketball is characterized by short and intense bouts of activity at medium to high frequency. Basketball entails specific types of movements, physiological requirements and energy sources. The duration of physiological responses involving ATP, CP and glycolysis responses to this type of activity is 5-6 seconds for a single sprint, and a contribution of the aerobic system is of less than 10%. Recovery periods in basketball, as a rule, are not long enough to fill the gap for such high intensity activities. It is hard to achieve the same level of performance consistently over time in repeated sprints. This means that basketball players need great athletic ability in order to demonstrate speed, strength and power required to produce a successful performance most proficiently. Therefore, tests are needed to help coaches to monitor their players and ensure that they have the physiological capacity required for the game. The aim of fitness tests is to assess the condition of athletes in terms of each fitness component, in order to determine what needs to be improved through the training program and to conduct retests at set times to assess whether their condition has changed. The literature offers a number of widely used tests to measure aerobic and anaerobic fitness. This article reviews the physiological demands of basketball and analyzes the field tests commonly used at present. The article emphasizes the need for a specific test that will serve coaches and physical fitness trainers in monitoring their players.