Acute caffeine supplementation promotes small to moderate improvements in performance tests indicative of in-game success in professional female basketball players

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acute caffeine supplementation on anaerobic performance in professional, female basketball players. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, experimental design was used in a randomized, counterbalanced manner. In separate sessions, 10 professional basketball players ingested caffeine (3 mg/kg body mass) or a placebo (dextrose: 3 mg/kg body mass) 60 min before completing countermovement jumps (CMJ) with and without arm swing, a squat jump (SJ), the Lane Agility Drill, 20-m sprints (with 5-m and 10-m split times recorded) with and without dribbling a ball, and a Suicide Run. Participants provided ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and ratings of perceived performance 30 min following testing. Data anlaysesis included the use of effect size (ES) and significance. Caffeine supplementation produced small, non-significant (p > 0.05) increases in CMJ without arm swing (ES = 0.30), CMJ with arm swing (ES = 0.29), SJ (ES = 0.33), and the Lane Agility Drill (ES = -0.27). Caffeine supplementation produced small to moderate, significant improvments in 10-m (ES = -0.63; p = 0.05) and 20-m (ES = -0.41; p = 0.04) sprint times without dribbling. Caffeine supplmentation promoted a moderate, significant reduction in RPE during the test battery (ES = -1.18; p = 0.04) and a small, non-significant improvement in perceived performance (ES = 0.23; p = 0.53). Acute caffeine supplementation may produce small to moderate improvements in key performance attritubes required for basketball while reducing RPE.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author