The Effect of Upper Extremity Fatigue on Grip Strength and Passing Accuracy in Junior Basketball Players

Fatigue is an unavoidable part of a basketball game, which may affect an athlete’s performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of upper extremity fatigue on grip strength and passing accuracy in basketball, and ascertain if the effects of different fatigue protocols on grip strength and passing accuracy are the same. Twenty-four juniors under 18 years old (age: 16.75 ± 0.62 years; body height: 184.5 ± 3.31 cm; body mass: 77.25 ± 3.22 kg) volunteered to participate in the study, and were divided into two groups. After a warm-up, both groups performed the basketball passing test and grip strength was recorded for each group under three different testing conditions: rest, 70% and 90% exercise intensity. The protocol used for the first group was the chest press, and for the second group the wrist curls. Results show that after the upper extremity fatigue protocol all parameters of the study (grip strength and passing accuracy) showed a significant decrease, and there was no significant difference between both groups regarding grip strength and passing accuracy. The study suggested that in order to avoid upper extremity fatigue, basketball trainers and coaches need to include upper extremity conditioning exercises into their training sessions.