DOI of the published article https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2022.1042494/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Sports_and_Active_Living&id=1042494
Does early specialization provide an advantage in physical fitness development in youth basketball?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.135Keywords:
youth sports, Bayesian data analysis, multilevel models, deliberate practice, young athletes, biological maturationAbstract
Background: Early specialization is often assumed to promote quicker and better physical development to attain expertise in sports. This study examined the influence of the specialization onset on the magnitude and patterns of changes in basketball-specific physical fitness within a competitive season, and developmental trends of fitness between 11-17 years in young basketball players. The prior hypothesis was that young basketball players who specialize before pubertal growth (early) would have better physical fitness and develop faster than those who specialize during or after the pubertal growth period. We examined repeated measures of 181 young basketball players (female, n=40; male, n=141). Anthropometry, age, estimated maturity status, and basketball-specific physical fitness (assessed with the countermovement jump, line drill, and yo-yo intermittent recovery level-1 and fitness score) were considered. We grouped players by the onset of specialization as related to biologic maturation milestones (pre-puberty, mid-puberty, and late-puberty specialization). The within-season and developmental changes in physical fitness were fitted using multilevel modeling in a fully Bayesian framework. The fitness outcomes were similar between-player and within-player changes when grouped by specialization across a season. Fitness improvements across a season were apparent for female players, while male players maintained the performance levels. There was no variation in the patterns of physical fitness development between 11-17 years associated with the onset of specialization. Conditional on our data and models, the assumption that early sport specialization provides a physical fitness advantage for future athletic success does not hold. Relevant stakeholders should be conservative in the expectations of development and improvements of physical fitness across a season and adolescence in young basketball players. We provide an operational framework to interpret specialization related to biological maturation milestones.
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Copyright (c) 2022 André A.L. Soares, Ahlan B. Lima, Caio G. Miguel, Luciano G. Galvão, Tiago J. Leonardi, Roberto R. Paes, Carlos E. Gonçalves, Humberto M. Carvalho
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