Morphological and physiological profile of elite basketball players in Belgium

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to gain insight into the physiological profile of elite basketball players in Belgium in relation to their position on the field. METHODS: The group consisted of 144 players, divided into 5 groups according to position (point guards [PG], shooting guards [SG], small forwards [SF], power forwards [PF] and centers [C]). The anthropometrics were measured and the subjects underwent fitness tests (incremental running test, 10m-sprint,5x10m,Squat and Counter Movement Jump, isokinetic test) to obtain insight into endurance, speed, agility and power. The parameters of these tests were compared among the different positions by means of one-way variance analysis (MANOVA). Tukey post hoc-tests where performed in case of a significant MANOVA. RESULTS: It was observed that C were taller, heavier and had a higher body fat percentage compared to PG and SG. For the anaerobic sprint test C were slower compared to the other positions. For the 5x10m the PG and SG were faster than SF and PF. For the jump test C displayed a significantly lower absolute performance compared to the other positions. PG and SG had a higher VO2peak and speed at the anaerobic threshold compared to PF and C. The isokinetic strength test showed that the quadriceps muscle group of C could exert a higher torque during the knee extension compared to the other positions. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the physiological profile of elite players in the Belgian first division differs among the position on the field. More specific, guards were characterized by a high endurance, speed and agility, whereas centers and power forwards showed a higher muscular strength compared to the other positions