‘Fitlight’ training system benefits for neuromuscular control training in basketball

ˑ: 

PhD M.A. Rogozhnikov¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.E. Baturin¹
PhD Yu.V. Yakovlev2
PhD A.E. Kuritsyna2
¹ St. Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, St. Petersburg
2S.M. Budyonny Military Academy of Communications, St. Petersburg

Keywords: basketball, movement coordination qualities, response rate, neuromuscular control, Fitlight Training System.

Background. Modern basketball offers the following game positions for the players: point guard, shooting guard, center, small forward and power forward. Center (number 5) is normally the tallest and heaviest player who must fight for rebounds on the basket. Power forward’s (number 4) main role is to intercept ball in defense and attack and back up the attack by a second scoring attempt; and the small forward’s (number 3) major role is basically to score. Unlike the others, the forwards are dominantly very tall to fight for rebounds on the basket and need to have high mid- and long-distance scoring power. Shooting guard (number 2) has a few game goals, with a special priority to defense and attack support/ completion actions – that means that he must be perfect in passing, mid- and long-distance shooting and dribbling. And a point guard (number 1) is the key player that shall perfectly feel and control the situation and the teammates’ positions and actions on the court. Point guard is the key attack design player who sets the stage for and manages the teamwork in attack and defense and, hence, shall immediately respond to every strong or weak action in the opponent team game by spearheading the counteractions. This player must be top skilled in high-speed dribbling and ball control.

As found by analyses of the 2018-19 Saint Petersburg University Competitions replays and formal statistics, the loser teams made 19.9±1.4 ball losses per game including 13.8±0.7 losses due to blunders in the ball control and dribbling. Every dribbling/ ball control error opens up a window of opportunity for the opponent for an immediate runway, with 93% easy scoring probability. A survey of the professional basketball coaches showed that most of them give a special priority to the high-speed game with multiple perfect passes and accurate shooting. This priority may be the reason for the ball control and dribbling skills being relatively neglected in trainings [3].

Objective of the study was to test benefits of a Fitlight Training System for the neuromuscular control training in academic basketball.

Methods and structure of the study. The educational experiment was carried out from September 2019 to November 2019. Sampled for the study were 30 basketball players from Saint Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee and Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. We sampled for the study academic basketball players from the Academy of the Investigative Committee (n=15) and Military Academy of Communications (n=15) including Candidate Masters of Sport (n=16), Class I players (n=13) and formally unqualified players (n=11). The sample was split up into Experimental Group (EG, n=15 from Academy of the Investigative Committee), and Reference Group (n=15 from the Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering), with the group neuromuscular control skills tested by the pre-experimental tests as described hereunder.

The Fitlight Training System used for the EG trainings includes wireless LED disks controlled by a tablet and used as targets the athlete are required to touch or shade. It should be mentioned that the Fitlight Training System may be adapted for any sport discipline for the response speed, dexterity and coordination training purposes [4, 5], with the test data immediately processed on a real time basis to maintain due feedback with the trainee; with the individual performance data saved for further analyses [1, 2].

The Fitlight Training System test is designed as follows. The athlete will start with the ball from the central cone, with 8 other cones placed around 8m afar. In 5s since the start, LED on one of the cones will light up yellow, red, purple or turquoise two times at most per color. The athlete will rush to the lit cone, do what the color requires, touch the disc and come back to the center. In 3 seconds the next LED will light up, and so the test goes on until all 8 tasks are fulfilled: see Figure. The colors may mean the following: red requires the athlete making a front dribbling sequence; yellow means the athlete should make a front under-left-leg dribbling sequence; turquoise means the same for the right leg; and purple requires the behind-the-back dribbling sequence. The ball control skills will be rated by the total successful test time. In case of an error, the athlete will be penalized by an extra color.

.Figure 1. Fitlight Training System: training pattern

The EG trainings were designed as follows. Till the mid-September, the EG run the Fitlight Training System assisted on-spot ball control trainings. The color-specific tasks were the following: high/ low one-hand dribbling with the disc touched by the free hand; front one-hand dribbling with the disc touched by the other hand; under-the-leg ball dribbling with the disc touched by the free hand; and behind-the-back dribbling with the disc touched by the other hand. Since the mid-September (next two weeks), the Fitlight Training System assisted trainings were color-programmed by the coach using 2-4 colors only: see Figure 1. In October, the EG was trained to control ball on the right-left moves in a 5m range on a single-color signal plus run 4-8 color tests on the coach-programmed Fitlight Training System. Then, till mid-November, the EG run the coach-programmed Fitlight Training System (4-8 color) trainings, with every color requiring two-three actions (e.g. front, under-the-leg and behind-the-back dribbling actions); and since mid-November, in the other two weeks, the difficulty was stepped by 3-4m on every disc, with the 8-12 colors per training cycle.

The RG was trained for these three months as required by the standard academic basketball training curriculum.

Results and discussion. The Fitlight Training System assisted trainings were found beneficial for the neuromuscular control as verified by the significant progress EG versus RG demonstrated by the pre- versus post-experimental tests: see Table 1 hereunder.

Table 1. Pre- versus post-experimental neuromuscular control test data of the EG and RG

Test

RG, n=15

EG, n=15

Ball control time test, s

Pre 64,9±3,5

Post 57,7±1,9

Pre 65,7±3,9

Post 41,9±1,5(*)

Ball control errors, count

Pre 3,8±0,3

Post 3,1±0,3

Pre 3,9±0,3

Post 2,2±0,4(*)

Note: (*) р<0.05 for the pre- versus post-experimental EG vs. RG test data

Conclusion. The Fitlight Training System for the neuromuscular control training in academic basketball was tested beneficial as verified by the EG progress of 36.2% (65.7s versus 41.9s in the pre- versus post-experimental neuromuscular control tests) as a result of the special priority to the on-spot and on-the-move dribbling/ ball control trainings with the attention fixed on the color-triggered skills. The difficulty-stepping game situation modeling trainings resulted in the ball control errors being reduced by 43.6%, and ball losses almost halved down. The EG progress may be attributed to the Fitlight Training System assisted trainings that helped excel both the neuromuscular control and tactile sensations in the group. The tested benefits of the Fitlight Training System assisted training model give us good reasons to expect it being highly efficient for the coordination skills training purposes in the academic basketball training systems.

References

  1. Vol’skiy V.V., Bakeshin K.P., Baturin A.E. Physical training of federal penitentiary service staff at stage of reforming. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2016. No. 7. pp. 47-49.
  2. Germanova A.A., Rogozhnikov M.A., Safonova O.A., Dementiev K.N. Multimedia technologies to facilitate precise self-defense skills mastering process. Teoriya i praktika fiz. Kultury, 2019. No. 3. pp. 35-37.
  3. Rogozhnikov M.A., Dementiev K.N., Volsky V.V., Sergeeva A.G. Powerlifting practices in compensatory fatigue phase to improve shooting accuracy in basketball. Teoriya i praktika fiz. Kultury, 2019. No.11. pp. 74-76.
  4. Rogozhnikov M.A. Explosive leg strength training for complex coordinated techniques in youth taekwondo. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 11, pp. 60-61.
  5. Sergeeva A.G., Rogozhnikov M.A. Trampoline training tools to expand range of complex coordinated techniques in taekwondo. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2018, no.9, pp. 72-74.

Corresponding author: mrogozhnikov89@gmail.com

Abstract

Objective of the study was to test the fitlight simulation method to improve neuromuscular interconnections in basketball players.

Methods and structure of the study. The educational experiment was carried out from September 2019 to November 2019. Sampled for the study were 30 basketball players from Saint Petersburg Academy of the Investigative Committee and Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

The Experimental Group subjects were to perform dribbling exercises on the fitlight simulator, which consisted of the wireless LED disks controlled by a tablet controller.

Results and conclusions. The Fitlight Training System for the neuromuscular control training in academic basketball was tested beneficial as verified by the EG progress of 36.2% (65.7s versus 41.9s in the pre- versus post-experimental NC tests) as a result of the special priority to the on-spot and on-the-move dribbling/ ball control trainings with the attention fixed on the color-triggered skills. The difficulty-stepping game situation modeling trainings resulted in the ball control errors being reduced by 43.6%, and ball losses almost halved down. The EG progress may be attributed to the Fitlight Training System assisted trainings that helped excel both the NC and tactile sensations in the group. The tested benefits of the Fitlight Training System assisted training model give us good reasons to expect it being highly efficient for the coordination skills training purposes in the academic basketball training systems.