Higher Playing Times Accumulated Across Entire Games and Prior to Intense Passages Reduce the Peak Demands Reached by Elite, Junior, Male Basketball Players

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of different factors on the external peak demands (PD) encountered by elite, junior, male basketball players in games, including the (1) total playing time during games and (2) playing time accumulated directly prior to each PD episode. Workload variables included the PD for total distance, distance covered in different intensity zones, accelerations >2 m·s-2 (ACC), decelerations 18 km·h-1) distance (2-min window), and ACC (30-s, 45-s, 1-min, 2-min, and 5-min windows) were significantly (p