The purpose of this study is to examine changes in agility and athletic performance of high school basketball players following a coach-led neuromuscular training program. Outcomes were measured at pre- and post-season data collection sessions. Additionally, player attendance and warm-up adherence was self recorded by coaches.
This study recruited high school basketball teams from the greater New York City area. Coaches from the participating teams were trained to implement a neuromuscular training program to their players at the start of a warm-up prior to all practices and games for the duration of their basketball season (10-14 weeks). At pre-season and post-season data collection sessions, players completed agility and movement quality testing. Agility was measured by the Lane Agility Test (LAT) and movement quality testing was measured through completing a series of single leg squats. The single leg squats were recorded and analyzed using a previously scoring criteria (Di Paolo et al. 2024). After videos were analyzed, players were given an overall movement quality score using the scoring criteria.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
115
Coaches implemented neuromuscular training at the start of all warm-ups for practices and games. The neuromuscular training program was developed by sports medicine professionals at the home institution and the National Basketball Association and incorporates established principles of motor learning and performance training and has an added emphasis of being basketball-specific.
Hospital for Special Surgery
New York, New York, United States
Lane Agility Test (LAT)
The lane agility was performed according to previously published methods (Stojanović et al. 2019). The LAT was set up around the basketball court using small cones. Players started at the bottom left corner of the key underneath the basket and sprinted to the cone on the left corner of the free throw line. Players side shuffled to the right, across the free-throw line to the next cone (on the right corner of the free throw line) and then backpedaled towards the third cone at the baseline. Next, the players side-shuffled towards the original cone. Once the player's left foot went past the cone, they re-traced the same route back in the opposite direction. Time was recorded from the moment the player started the course at the bottom left key until the time that the player's entire body backpedaled across the same baseline cone.
Time frame: Agility was measured at a baseline testing date and then again at the cumulation of the basketball season (duration of 10-14 weeks).
Movement Quality
Players completed a series of six single leg squats on each leg as instructed by sports medicine professionals. All of the squats were recorded on video. For each leg, three of the squats were completed facing towards the camera. The other three squats were completed facing towards the side so that the player's sagittal profile was recorded. The videos were analyzed and annotated with measurements to compute to a single score describing their movement quality as outlined in a previously published scoring criteria (Di Paolo et al. 2024). The overall score ranged from 0 to 8, with a higher score indicating a better performance.
Time frame: Movement quality was measured at a baseline testing date and then again at the cumulation of the basketball season (duration of 10-14 weeks).
Injury
Attendance was taken for each player for the duration of the season. Coaches categorized each day of the season as one of the following: "Practice," "Game," or "Off Day." Coaches also indicated if the team completed the neuromuscular training warm-up for the days in which they had practices or games. For each player, coaches took attendance every day and indicated one of the following for practices and games: "Present," "Absent - Excused," "Absent - Unexcused," "Absent - Injury." Injury was defined as the days in which the player was marked "Absent - Injury."
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Time frame: Duration of the basketball season (expected duration 10-14 weeks).