Pedagogical Progression in Youth Basketball: Impacts on Training Load, Development and Health Outcomes

The progression of content during the training and development of young athletes is essential, while considering the developmental stages of the students/athletes. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor training sessions to ensure that content progression is followed and to assess how it is implemented. The aim of this study was to analyze the associations between different male categories of sports development in basketball through pedagogical variables and external loads planned by the coaches. The sample consisted of 148 sessions and 896 tasks, and the SIATE tool was used to observe both the pedagogical variables and the primary external load variables. Significant differences were observed primarily in the U16 category compared to the U12 and U14 categories. In examining the pedagogical variables, three key aspects were highlighted: content type, training methods, and level of opposition. The external load variables were aligned with the pedagogical variables, suggesting a progression of content. This indicates that instruction should follow an order, in which tactical load evolves from the simplest to the most complex, in accordance with the development and training stage of the students/athletes. The analyzed male basketball team demonstrated a content progression focused on the comprehensive development of the student/athlete, encouraging decision-making, and creating a complex, unpredictable, and random environment that closely resembles the dynamics of the real game.