Competition demands of elite wheelchair basketball athletes assessed with local positioning system and inertial measurement units

Introduction Understanding competition demands in elite wheelchair basketball (WCB) is essential for designing effective training programs given the range of impairments represented within teams. The aim was to examine movement demands in elite WCB by sex and Para-sport classification. Methods Inertial measurement units (IMU) and local positioning system (LPS) data were collected during international series involving the Australian national WCB teams. The dataset included observations from 12 female athletes across five games and 14 male athletes across three games. Athletes were classified as either high-point (≥3.0; n = 5 females and n = 10 males) or low-point (≤2.5; n = 7 females and n = 4 males). Results Relative competition demands (accelerations ≥1.0 m·s− 2 ; high-intensity ≥2.0 m·s− 2 ) were broadly similar across movement variables between female (81.4 m·min−1, 9.3 accelerations·min−1, 8.7 decelerations·min−1, and 27.0 rotations·min−1) and male athletes (83.9 m·min−1, 9.5 accelerations·min−1, 8.9 decelerations·min−1, and 25.4 rotations·min−1); however, male athletes performed more high-intensity accelerations and decelerations than females. Classification effects included: high-point female athletes recorded 8.6% higher peak speed ( p < 0.001), 12.4% more accelerations ( p = 0.014), and 12.0% more decelerations ( p = 0.017) than low-point females, while low-point females demonstrated greater high-intensity acceleration rates ( p = 0.002). In males, high-point athletes demonstrated higher mean (5.3%, p = 0.038) and peak speed (5.1%, p = 0.024) than low-point athletes. Discussion These findings highlight similar movement demands between sexes, with differences emerging in the most demanding efforts and across classification groups. Training approaches may benefit from consideration of classification-relevant physical qualities, particularly high-intensity propulsion and braking capacities.

Athletes · Basketball · Competition (biology) · Elite · Elite Athletes · Global Positioning System · Team sport · Wheelchair · Spinal Cord Injury Research · Sport Psychology and Performance · Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery

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