Average Game Physical Demands and the Most Demanding Scenarios of Basketball Competition in Various Age Groups

The purpose of this study was to compare average physical demands and the most demanding 60-s scenarios of basketball match-play between five different age groups. Sixty-four male basketball players from five different age groups were monitored across eight regular-season home games. Physical demands were examined using a local positioning system and included total distance covered, distance >18 km·h(-1), the number of accelerations (≥2 m·s(-2)) and decelerations (≤-2 m·s(-2)). All four game performance variables increased significantly (58.4 - 639.2%) when calculated with rolling average techniques in comparison to average physical demand values. Furthermore, the current investigation found that while Under-12 presented the highest result in relative total distance covered (p < .001; effect size = 0.58-2.01), they also showed the lowest values in the most demanding scenarios of match play and small-to-moderate effect sizes compared with their older counterparts. Both average physical demands and the most demanding scenarios presented an increasing tendency with age when distance >18 km·h(-1) in basketball players was assessed. More specifically, the Under-12 age group achieved the lowest values and showed significant differences with the other four teams in both game analysis techniques (p < .001; effect size = 0.53 - 1.32). In conclusion, average game demands are shown to remarkably underestimate the most demanding scenarios of basketball match-play, and there are multiple significant differences between particular age groups.