title: Metabolic optimisation of the basketball free throw.
abstract: The free throw (FT) is a fundamental basketball skill used frequently during a match. Most of actual play occurs at about 85% of maximum heart rate (HR). Metabolic intensity, through fatigue, may influence a technically skilled move as the FT is. Twenty-eight under 17 basketball players were studied while shooting FTs on a regular indoor basketball court. We investigated FT accuracy in young male basketball players shooting at three different HRs: at rest, at 50% and at 80% of maximum experimentally obtained HR value. We found no significant FT percentage difference between rest and 50% of the maximum HR (FT percentage about 80%; P > 0.05). Differently, at 80% of the maximum HR the FT percentage decreased significantly by more than 20% (P < 0.001) down to about 60%. No preliminary warm-up is needed before entering game for the FT accuracy. Furthermore, we speculate that time-consuming, cooling-off routines usually performed by shooters before each FT may be functional to improve its accuracy.
authors.affiliation: a University eCampus , Novedrate , Italy.
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Padulo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Attene
authors.forename: Gian Mario
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Migliaccio
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cuzzolin
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vando
authors.forename: Luca Paolo
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ardigò
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D001490:Basketball / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D063996:Warm-Up Exercise / Q000502:physiology
keywords: analysis; heart rate; metabolism; motor skills; sports; task performance