title: Validity and usefulness of the Line Drill test for adolescent basketball players: a Bayesian multilevel analysis.
abstract: The study examined the validity of the Line Drill test (LD) in male adolescent basketball players (10-15 years). Sensitiveness of the LD to changes in performance across a training and competition season (4 months) was also considered. Age, maturation, body size and LD were measured (n = 57). Sensitiveness of the LD was examined pre- and post-competitive season in a sub-sample (n = 44). The time at each of the four shuttle sprints of the LD (i.e. four stages) was modelled with Bayesian multilevel models. We observed very large correlation of performance at stage 4 (full LD protocol) with stage 3, but lower correlations with the early LD stages. Players' performance by somatic maturity differed substantially only when considering full LD protocol performance. Substantial improvements in all stages of the protocol were observed across the 4-month competitive season. The LD protocol should be shortened by the last full court shuttle sprint, remaining sensitive to training exposure, and independent of maturity status and body size.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Physical Education , University of Campinas (UNICAMP) , Campinas/São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Humberto M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2855-0296
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: b Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education , University of Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6687-9041
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: c Training Center , French Basketball Federation , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Grosgeorge
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Physical Education , University of Campinas (UNICAMP) , Campinas/São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberto R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Paes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D054874:Athletic Performance; D001490:Basketball; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D049628:Body Size; D002648:Child; D005080:Exercise Test; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055361:Multilevel Analysis
keywords: Youth; agility; allometric scaling; athlete; maturation