Comparison Of NCAA D1 Women's Basketball Game Day And Previous Practice Training Loads

Purpose: Examining the game day and the previous week training load before each game in NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball players. METHODS: Eleven females (Age: 22 ± 2 years, Height: 183.41 ± 8.92 cm, Weight: 84.62 ± 18.78 kg) NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball players donned accelerometer units for games and practices from October 2023 through March 2024. Variables collected by the units include Total Distance, Duration, Accumulated Acceleration Load, High Speed Distance, Deceleration Load, and Number of Jumps. Then, Game Day -1 (GD-1), Game Day -2 (GD-2), average of Game Day -1-3 (GD-1-3), and average of Game Day -1-7 (GD-1-7) values were calculated for each training load. A linear mixed effect model with Tukey post hoc analysis was used to assess the training load differences between games and practice. In these analyses, each training load and dates relative to games (GD, GD-1, GD-2, GD-1-3, GD-1-7) were classified as fixed effect, where players were classified as the random effect nested within each date. RESULTS: Duration for GD-1 (163 ± 240 minutes) was significantly longer than GD-2 (116 ± 10 minutes, p = .0072). GD accumulated acceleration load was higher than all other dates (GD-1: 543 ± 190, GD-2: 540 ± 182, GD-1-3: 552 ± 157, GD-1-7: 565 ± 139, ps < .001). GD deceleration load was higher than all other dates (GD-1: 1170 ± 378, GD-2: 1200 ± 376, GD-1-3: 1179 ± 309, GD-1-7: 1196 ± 303, ps < .001). Total distance of GD was higher than other dates (GD-1: 3.00 ± 1.21 miles, GD-2: 2.19 ± 0.81 miles, GD-1-3: 2.21 ± 0.75 miles, GD-1-7: 2.27 ± 0.65 miles, ps < .001). High speed distance in GD was higher than other dates (GD-1: 1.1.13 ± 0.55, GD-2: 1.07 ± 0.42 miles, GD-1-3: 1.15 ± 0.48 miles, GD-1-7: 1.17 ± 0.42 miles, ps < .001). Number of jumps in GD-1-7 (40 ± 26) was higher than GD (31 ± 22, p < .012). CONCLUSIONS: Game day training load was different than all practice loads, but there was no difference in comparison of practices. Practitioners should utilize high training load days to mimic games but have variances between practices to allow for a recovery effect and avoid injury.