Peak external game demands are impacted by season phase but not match outcome or a mid-season coaching change in semi-professional, male basketball players
Randomized trial examines peak demands influenced by season phase in male basketball players, indicating training needs.
Key Points
To investigate how season phase, match outcome, and mid-season coaching change affect peak external demands in basketball players.
Monitored 11 players from a Spanish fourth division team across 33 matches during the 2021–2022 season.
Measured PlayerLoad™ using a local positioning system during various time windows (30s, 60s, 180s).
Used Friedman and Wilcoxon tests for comparing peak demands across different conditions.
Season phase significantly influenced peak demands, with higher values during pre-season and promotion phases compared to regular season halves (p < 0.05).
PD was greater in losses than wins over 30 seconds (p = 0.0049, large effect).
No significant differences in PD before versus after mid-season coaching change, indicating no impact.