CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS ALLEVIATES THE EFFECT OF FATIGUE ON BASKETBALL FREE THROW SHOOTING PERFORMANCE

Fatigue causes basketball players to change their movement patterns while shooting free throws, leading to missed shots. Cardiorespiratory fitness may moderate this negative relationship. Male collegiate basketball players completed a VO2max test to determine their fitness. On another day, each player shot 10 free throws, then performed a basketball-specific fatigue protocol, and then shot 10 more free throws. Shot accuracy, shot consistency, and shooting kinematics were calculated from video analyses. Shot accuracy was unchanged, shot consistency worsened (p = 0.03), and peak knee flexion angle increased (p \u3c 0.01) for all players following the fatigue protocol. Fitter players were more accurate (p \u3c 0.01) and more consistent (p = 0.02) when shooting while fatigued. Conditioning may be an important factor in free throw training