Ultrasound Measurements and Physical Fitness of Elite Youth
                    Basketball Players

Juan Francisco Lisón; Sergio García-Herreros; Borja Ricart; Eduardo Jorge Godoy; Sara Nozal; Pedro Cotolí-Suarez; Jaime Jordán-López; Juan José Amer-Cuenca; Pablo Salvador-Coloma

doi:10.1055/a-1989-9602

International Journal of Sports Medicine, Table of Contents

Int J Sports Med 2023; 44(07): 505-515
DOI: 10.1055/a-1989-9602

Training & Testing

Ultrasound Measurements and Physical Fitness of Elite Youth Basketball Players

Authors

Juan Francisco Lisón^‡

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, Spain

²CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition CIBERobn, CB06/03 Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain
Sergio García-Herreros^‡

³Dawako Medtech, S.L. – Dpto. Medical Imaging (Ultrasound)

⁴Physiotherapy, Faculty of Physiotherapy, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Borja Ricart

⁵Physical Education and Sports Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

⁶Alqueria LAB, Valencia Basket, Valencia, Spain
Eduardo Jorge Godoy

³Dawako Medtech, S.L. – Dpto. Medical Imaging (Ultrasound)

⁷Computational Multiscale Simulation Lab, Department of Computer Science, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Sara Nozal

³Dawako Medtech, S.L. – Dpto. Medical Imaging (Ultrasound)
Pedro Cotolí-Suarez

⁵Physical Education and Sports Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

⁶Alqueria LAB, Valencia Basket, Valencia, Spain
Jaime Jordán-López

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, Spain
Juan José Amer-Cuenca

⁸Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University CEU Cardenal Herrera, CEU Universities, Alfara del Patriarca, Spain
Pablo Salvador-Coloma

³Dawako Medtech, S.L. – Dpto. Medical Imaging (Ultrasound)

Abstract

The countermovement jump, the V-cut test, the muscle thickness and the adjacent subcutaneous fat thickness of the gastrocnemius medialis and rectus femoris are important physiological indicators for success in basketball. The aims of this study were to evaluate between-age-category and between-gender differences in these indicators and examine the relationships between physical tests and ultrasound measurements. The measurements were recorded in a sample of 131 elite basketball players (66 males) who played in three age-categories (U14, U16, or U18). We performed two-way analysis of covariance tests and age-adjusted partial correlation analyses. U16 and U18 males showed better performance in the countermovement jump and V-cut tests and lower adjacent subcutaneous fat thickness of the gastrocnemius medialis and rectus femoris compared to the U14 males (p≤.001) and to age-category equivalent female players (p≤.001). Comparisons between the age categories in females did not show significant differences in any of the study variables. Adjacent subcutaneous fat thickness of the gastrocnemius medialis explained 22.3% of the variation for the countermovement jump result and 12.9% of the variation for the V-cut result in males (p<.01). This study is the first to show the association and predictive role of subcutaneous fat thickness measured by ultrasound in physical performance of male and female elite youth basketball players.

Key words

basketball - countermovement jump - muscle thickness - subcutaneous fat - ultrasound - V-cut

Full Text

References

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