Breaking Barriers: Understanding the Impact of Intellectual Impairment on Inductive Reasoning in Basketball

Access to high-performance sports is crucial for the holistic development and well-being of athletes with intellectual impairment (II). However, ensuring fair and equitable participation requires effective eligibility systems. This study investigates how basketball-specific inductive reasoning impacts athletes with II. A total of 92 elite male players with II (average age 26.3 ± 7 years) and 128 control players without II participated. This study used a tailored test to assess the ability to quickly and accurately arrange 12 photo series depicting basketball sequences. Athletes with II were hypothesized to require more time and arrange the image sequences less accurately compared to their peers. The results indicated that athletes with II took significantly more time (41.2 s ± 20.2 s) and arranged the image sequences less accurately than senior players without II (19.2 s ± 5.9 s). A discriminant function analysis classified 84.1% of players accurately, confirming that athletes with II performed at a lower level in basketball-specific activities that require inductive reasoning. These findings contribute to the development of Phase 3 of the classification model for athletes with II, which consists of 4 phases. This helps establish the eligibility system boundaries in basketball for individuals with II, promoting equitable access for athletes to high-performance sports.