Positional Differences in Elite Basketball: Selecting Appropriate Training-Load Measures

TLDR

The study investigates how external training‑load measures interrelate and differ across guard, forward, and center positions in elite basketball. The authors collected 13 professional players’ 300 session records of eight external variables (jumping, acceleration, deceleration, change of direction) and two internal variables (RPE, session RPE), performed principal‑component analysis with eigenvalue > 1 and varimax rotation to identify position‑specific load components. Principal‑component analysis revealed distinct load‑component configurations for each position, with specific external variables (e.g., tACC, tDEC, tCOD, hJUMP for centers) and strong correlations between RPE and total ACC, DEC, COD, indicating that training‑load monitoring must tailor external‑load measures to each position.

Abstract

To study the structure of interrelationships among external-training-load measures and how these vary among different positions in elite basketball.Eight external variables of jumping (JUMP), acceleration (ACC), deceleration (DEC), and change of direction (COD) and 2 internal-load variables (rating of perceived exertion [RPE] and session RPE) were collected from 13 professional players with 300 session records. Three playing positions were considered: guards (n = 4), forwards (n = 4), and centers (n = 5). High and total external variables (hJUMP and tJUMP, hACC and tACC, hDEC and tDEC, and hCOD and tCOD) were used for the principal-component analysis. Extraction criteria were set at an eigenvalue of greater than 1. Varimax rotation mode was used to extract multiple principal components.The analysis showed that all positions had 2 or 3 principal components (explaining almost all of the variance), but the configuration of each factor was different: tACC, tDEC, tCOD, and hJUMP for centers; hACC, tACC, tCOD, and hJUMP for guards; and tACC, hDEC, tDEC, hCOD, and tCOD for forwards are specifically demanded in training sessions, and therefore these variables must be prioritized in load monitoring. Furthermore, for all playing positions, RPE and session RPE have high correlation with the total amount of ACC, DEC, and COD. This would suggest that although players perform the same training tasks, the demands of each position can vary.A particular combination of external-load measures is required to describe the training load of each playing position, especially to better understand internal responses among players.