Jerzy Sadowski, professor, Dr.Hab.
Wlodzimierz Lyah, professor, Dr.Hab.
Pawel Wolosz, Dr.Hab.
Janusz Zielinski, Dr.Hab.
Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw. Faculty of Physical Education and Sport in Biała Podlaska

Introduction. Technical training is one of the most fundamental areas in preparation of team athletes from game sports, including basketball players (I.M. Preobrazhensky, 1997; Yu.M. Portnov 1996, 1997; L.V. Kostikova, A.G. Vołosovich, 1997; W. Ljach, 2003; T. Huciński, 2012). Sports achievements depend on the technique of ball handling and moving around the court under fast-changing conditions (V.M. Koryagin, 1997; A. Zając, B. Przymęcka, 1991; J. Sadowski et al. 2003; S. Pavlidou et al., 2006; W. Ljach, 2007; A. Kubaszczyk, 2001; G. Bogdanis, et al. 2007; T. Huciński, 2004, J. Jóźwiak, 1998).

As it has been proved a long time ago, the number and quality of technical elements performed by basketball players during training sessions and competitions are strongly correlated with their sports level (V.Ya. Krotov, 1983; A. Kubaszczyk, 2001). Effectiveness of performance of technical elements also depends on the mesocycle (preparatory, competitive) of the year-long macrocycle (N.A. Kurova, 1990), player’s position (A.B. Sablin, 2002) and qualification (T. Huciński, 2012).

The literature review testifies to the lack of data coming from experimental researches on the qualitative and quantitative indices of technical skills of female basketball players of different qualifications, age groups and training experience, specifically, the researches based on the methods of control of technical fitness using identical exercises (tests) defining the variety of technical means of ball handling and moving. The lack of such data prevents from control of the indices of comparative effectiveness of technique of female basketball players on different levels of excellence as well as monitoring of changes in these indices in a certain player within the long-term process of training and competition.

The purpose of the study was to compare effectiveness of the playing technique of female basketball players of different levels of excellence in view of the lateralization phenomenon.

Material and methods. The study included 182 female basketball players from 15 Polish clubs. The subjects (n=182) consisted of seniors (n=23), juniors (n=56), cadets (n=56) and children (n=47). The detailed information on these four categories under study is adduced in Table 1.

The control tests included:

- defensive 3-second-long footwork along the lines of the court to the right and then to the left. The time of performance of the exercise to the right and to the left as well as the total time were taken into account.

- chest passes against the wall from the 3-m-distance (30 passes) and separately with the dominant hand (15 passes) and the non-dominant hand (15 passes) only. The measurement included the time of performance of passes with both hands, with the dominant hand and with the non-dominant hand.

- jump shots from 5 spots marked behind the line 6.5 m away from the basket (three-point shots) and from 5 spots marked 5 m away from the basket (two-point shots). The analysis included the proportion of good three-point and two-point shots and performance time.

- close-in jump shots performed at maximum speed with alternated dominant (strongest) and non-dominant (weakest) hands for 30 s. The analysis included the number of good shots performed with the dominant and non-dominant hands and the total of all good shots.

- close-in driving shots after dribbling around the pole situated 1 m away from the key on the extended free throw line on the left side and then on the right side. The time of test performance and separately the number of good shots performed with the dominant hand and non-dominant hand were evaluated. After an interval the player performed 10 shots after alternated dribbling on the left and on the right side of the basket. The time of performing 10 shots and shot efficiency were assessed.

- free throws (15 sets of 2 throws each). The number of good shots was taken into account.

The tests applied in the study were checked in terms of reliability with the use of the ‘test-retest’ method. Reliability coefficients for the majority of the tests ranged between
0.76 and 0.97, whereas in the case of two-point shots and three-point shots it was 0.51 – 0.75.

Prior to the study effectiveness of technique of performance of playing means was assumed to grow with the rising sports qualification of female basketball players. Therefore, the results obtained for juniors, cadets and children were compared to the results of senior qualified basketball players treated as 100%.

The material collected was statistically processed, i.e. the results were described with normal distributions; moreover, arithmetic means (x), standard deviations (SD), variability indices (V) as well as minimal and maximal values were calculated (R. Stupnicki, 2000, A. Stanisz, 2007). Tukey’s HSD test (Spjotvoll-Stolin) was used to assess significance of differences between the means of particular variables in the groups under investigation (A. Stanisz, 2007).

Calculations were made using Microsoft Excel 2003 and Statistica 6.0 programmes.

Results. The indices of comparative effectiveness of technical playing elements of female basketball players are shown in tables 2-7. As planned and predicted, technical effectiveness (moves around the court, ball handling, passing and catching the ball, shots, dribbling) increased together with rise of qualification level, sportsmanship and training experience. With regard to most indices, the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05 – 0.001) to the advantage of more experienced players. The biggest statistical disparity was observed in shot accuracy (%): three-point and two-point field throws, close-in jump shots and free throws. As for three-point shot accuracy, senior qualified basketball players scored 45.6% better than juniors, 60.8% better than cadets and 68.3% better than children (p<0.001). A similar difference was observed in the case of two-point shots (table 5), free throws (table 7) and close-in jump shots with the dominant and non-dominant hand (table 6).

Herewith, the slightly smaller but statistically significant differences were noted in the following tasks: defensive footwork to the left and to the right (table 2), chest passes against the wall as well as passes against the wall performed with the dominant and non-dominant hands (table 3).

Proceeding from the overall comparison of the effectiveness of moving around the court and ball handling within trainings of elite female basketball players (seniors), the so-called first-class players (juniors), second-class players (cadets) and third-class novices (children), seniors outperformed juniors by 19.5%, scored better than cadets by 28.9% and performed better than children by 36.9%. The data regarding the significance of differences between female basketball players of qualification groups under consideration are adduced in Tables 2-7. The smallest number of statistically significant differences in technical effectiveness was found between cadets and children.

As follows from the compared indices of effectiveness of various technical elements performed with the dominant and non-dominant hands, notable asymmetry can be seen even among elite players. The indices of speed of passing and catching the ball while doing a task with the dominant hand were higher by 4.9% in elite players compared to the non-dominant hand and in the players of lower qualification they were higher by 7.2–12.2%. The time disparity in favour of the dominant hand while doing the control ‘close-in driving shots’ test was practically the same among female players of all qualification groups, i.e. in the range of 11,7-13.6%. The efficiency of close-in jump shots was always higher when performed with the dominant hand (usually the right one). The difference ranged from 6.7% - 28.8%.

Discussion. The purpose of the study was to try to compare effectiveness of performing various technical elements by female basketball players of different stages of sportsmanship (early specialisation, advanced training, sportsmanship, elite team). We may cite a numerous researchers who used to determine the levels of technical skills in male and female basketball players (G.P. Grigoriev, 1976; V.A. Daniov, 1986; A. Kubaszczyk, 2001; S. Pavlidonc et al., 2006, J. Jóźwiak, 1998; K. Karpowicz, M. Karpowicz, 1998; V.M. Koryagin, 1997; Yu.M. Portnov, 1997, J. Sadowski et al., 2003; G. Bogdanis et al., 2003, T. Huciński, 2012). However, only a few authors attempted to compare these levels in view of certain stages of sportsmanship (K. Mikołajec, J. Ryguła, 1999; A. Kubaszczyk, 2001).

Our findings (see Tables 2-7) are in line with the viewpoints (I.M. Portnov, 1997) and experimental data (A. Kubaszczyk, 2001; K. Mikołajec, J. Ryguła, 1999; V.Ya. Krotov, 1983, T. Huciński, 2012) proving that qualitative and quantitative indices of technical skills keep improving from the stage of initial specialisation to the final stage of becoming an elite player.

The effectiveness of moves and ball handling (specifically in the case of field throws from various distances) was more significant in elite players (masters of sports aged 26) than in juniors (first-class junior, aged 19.9), cadets (advanced degree, aged 14.3) and children (degree III, aged 13.6). As it has already been mentioned, the overall score showed that the advantage of elite players over juniors regarding the 13 indices under investigation totalled 19.5%, while that over cadets and children amounted to 28.9% and 36.9%, respectively. The findings concerning the improvement in technical elements not only in the period of intensive motor development (13-17 years old) but also on further stages (from the age of 19 to 26-30) corresponded to the data that had been obtained by researchers regarding training of coordination abilities in elite athletes (J. Sadowski, 2000; W.I. Ljach, Z. Witkowski, 2004, 2011; J. Simonek, 2006).

These researchers proved that in the period from the age of 17-18 up to 26-30 considerable potential of improvement of athletes’ coordination abilities (by 10-80% or more)   could still be found. The increase in the indices regarding the technique of ball handling (particularly those that are coordinationally complex) by 60.8%-68.3% (p<0.001) is shown to be in line with the findings of the aforementioned authors in terms of improving special coordination preparedness of athletes of team and combat sports. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the overwhelming majority of researchers (W.I. Ljach, J. Sadowski, 1999; W.I. Ljach, Z. Witkowski, 2004, 2011, et al.) suggest that the issues of technique improvement and development of coordination abilities are to be considered with regard to the single index of ‘technique – coordination’. Taking this index into account, they see the potential of significant improvement in players on all stages of sports training.

Research results testified to the vast potential of increase of technical skills of female basketball players of all training stages in case of the more effective use of the non-dominant hand when passing and catching the ball, dribbling and shooting. The advantage of the dominant hand in different groups amounted to 6.7%-18.8%. According to experts (Yu.M. Portnov, 1996; W.I. Ljach, Z. Witkowski, 2004), in case of the advantage of the dominant hand over the non-dominant one exceeding 2% in terms of performing technical elements of different coordination complexity or when doing a task following a preferred movement direction, it indicates that competitors (athletes) have not reached their maximal capacity in the field of coordination and technical preparedness.

As far as close-in bank shots are concerned, performance efficiency using both the dominant and non-dominant hand was twice as high among elite players as in children. We assume that it is a proper tendency since the specificity of such shots and the character of control exercises required high levels of speed-strength abilities and endurance speed on the part of elite players. These abilities improve till the age of 25-30 (W. Starosta et al., 1995; D. Maciejewski et al., 2001; V.I. Sysoew, I.E. Popova, 2009, T. Huciński, 2012).

The results obtained in our study enable us to make an in-depth comparison of  the levels of technical preparedness of female basketball players on different training stages. The application of the same control methods makes it possible to employ them at different levels of control in sport (operational, current and stage control). Therefore, a further research is required aimed at preparing methods of controlling the volume, diversity and acquisition of technique not only in training but also in competition conditions. It seems that it is high time we started to pay more attention to developing instrumental methods of control of technique in basketball players, i.e. measuring biomechanical parameters of technique. 

Conclusions

1. The indices of comparative effectiveness of selected technical elements increase gradually from the age category of children to cadets and juniors to elite players. By the total of all 13 indices we compared in the study elite players outperformed the so-called first-class players by 19.5%, scored better than the second-class players by 28.9% and performed better than the third-class players by 36.9%.

2. The smallest number of statistically significant differences in the indices of effectiveness was observed between cadets (aged 14.3) and children (aged 13.6).

3. Even elite players with the biggest training experience of 15.4 years were proved to have motor asymmetry (dominant vs. non-dominant hand asymmetry by 4.9-11.8%). The differences in the remaining groups were even greater and totalled 6.7-18.8%, indicating to existing considerable potential of improvement of technical skills in view of the dominant laterality.

4. Further researches are required to work and introduce into practice the methods of controlling the volume, diversity and stability of technique of female basketball players while training and competing based on biomechanical methods.

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Author’s contacts: Jerzy.sadowski@awf-bp.edu