The effectiveness of a practical half-time re-warm-up strategy in youth female basketball players

Problem Statement: Passive rest during basketball games could reduce athletes’ performance and increase the risk of injury during the second half of the game due to loss of muscle temperature. Approach: The re-warm-up activities during half-time could help avoid this problem, but there is a lack of research on their efficacy, especially in basketball. Purpose: This study aimed to assess the influence of two half-time re-warm-up strategies (that do not demand additional equipment) on measures of performance and the physical, sports and perceptual response during a basketball simulated match. Methods: Ten female basketball players U16 completed a traditional intervention and alternative strategy based on bouncing, in which participants completed two 40-minute games (4 x 10-minute periods with a 10-minute half-time interspersing the third and fourth periods) separated by four days. The traditional trial comprised a passive 6-minute period followed by 3 minutes of shooting wheel, whilst the alternative trial comprised a passive 6-minute period, followed by 1 minute of bouncing and 2 minutes of shooting wheel. The re-warm-up protocols were completed 1 minute before the beginning of the second half. Results: The re-warm-up did not show significant effects on jump performance and rating of perceived exertion immediately after half-time and after the second half of the basketball simulated match. No significant changes were identified for heart rate and locomotory responses during the game, except for the distance covered at a very light speed which was significantly higher in the traditional group. Conclusions: These data support that adding a bouncing exercise to a classic re-warm-up during half-time does not lead to additional improvement in young female basketball players.