Longitudinal Internal Training Load and Exposure in a High-Performance Basketball Academy

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Basketball Training

Background:

• High-performance youth basketball academies require structured training programs.
• Understanding longitudinal training load and exposure is crucial for athlete development and injury prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the longitudinal training exposure and internal training load in a high-performance youth basketball academy.
• To investigate the influence of training year, training term, and playing position on these training variables.

Main Methods:

• Collected historical data on training session counts, duration, Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and Session Rating of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) from 45 male athletes (2015-2019).
• Utilized linear mixed models and pairwise comparisons to analyze weekly means, categorized by training year, term, and playing position.
• Examined the variance attributed to individual athletes, training year, term, and position.

Main Results:

• Individual athletes accounted for the most variance in training load and exposure.
• Significant increases in session count, duration, and sRPE were observed in year 2 compared to year 1 (p < 0.001).
• Training load and exposure measures significantly increased from term 1/2 to term 3/4 within each training year (p < 0.001), but no significant differences were found between playing positions (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Training exposure and internal training load progressively increase in high-performance youth basketball players during their second year.
• Seasonal phases (terms) significantly influence training prescription, whereas playing position has a limited effect on overall training load and exposure.