Physical and physiological demands in elite female U-19 basketball: position-specific and competitive level differences in North African players
PeerJ, cilt.14, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 14
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.7717/peerj.21218
- Dergi Adı: PeerJ
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Directory of Open Access Journals, Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Anaerobic threshold, Physiological response, Basketball, Time-motion analysis, Youth athletes, Sport-specific training
- Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Aim. Understanding the physical and physiological demands of female youth basketball is essential for optimizing training and performance monitoring. However, evidence describing match demands in elite U-19 female players, particularly in African contexts, remains limited. Existing profiles are largely derived from male or adult cohorts and may not accurately reflect youth competition. This study aimed to examine the physical and physiological demands of elite North African U-19 female basketball players, considering differences by playing position (guards, forwards, centers) and competitive level (national vs. international). Methods. Thirty elite Tunisian U-19 female players (age 18.3 ± 0.2 years, height 1.78 ± 0.05 m, mass 82.9 ± 4.8 kg; 15 national-level, 15 international-level) were monitored during eight playoff games. Video-based time-motion analysis quantified activity frequency and duration across nine movement categories (standing, walking, jogging, running, sprinting, jumping, low/moderate/high-intensity shuffling). Physiological responses included heart rate (HR) monitoring (four intensity zones: <75%, 75–85%, 85–95%, >95% HRmax) and capillary [La] sampling. Two-way ANOVA (position × level) examined main and interaction effects. Results. International-level players performed significantly more high-intensity activities than national-level players (224.0 ± 5.1 vs. 214.1 ± 5.4; p < 0.001, d = 1.95) and spent more time in maximal HR zones (16.1 ± 0.3% vs. 12.1 ± 0.3%; p < 0.001, d = 13.33), indicating greater fatigue resistance. Guards executed more high-intensity shuffling actions than forwards and centers (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.92), whereas centers performed more static high-intensity actions and exhibited higher [La] concentrations (5.22 ± 0.15 vs. 4.93 ± 0.13 and 4.64 ± 0.12 mmol L−1; p < 0.001, η2 = 0.76). High-intensity activity declined from the first to the fourth quarter in both groups (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.94), with a greater reduction in national-level players (37.0% decline) than international players (31.9% decline). Intra-observer reliability was excellent across all movement categories (ICC ≥ 0.91; CV ≤ 4.6%). Conclusion. U-19 female basketball imposes distinct position-specific demands (guards: high-intensity lateral movements; centers: static exertions and elevated metabolic load) and competitive-level differences (international players: superior fatigue resistance). These findings provide the first quantitative profile of elite African female youth basketball, establishing reference benchmarks for position-specific conditioning and competitive-level progression assessment.