COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMP FORCE-TIME METRICS AND MAXIMAL HORIZONTAL DECELERATION PERFORMANCE IN PROFESSIONAL MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Basketball is a sport that relies heavily on an athlete’s ability to rapidly decelerate in order to change direction, avoid a defender, or create space. Recent literature has proposed novel ways of measuring maximal horizontal deceleration using radar technology. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between different countermovement jump (CMJ) force-time characteristics and metrics related to maximal horizontal deceleration for a sample of professional male basketball players. To gain further insight into performance qualities that influence horizontal deceleration performance, athletes were separated into high- and low-performance groups for all horizontal deceleration metrics, using a median split analysis, and differences in CMJ force-time metrics were investigated between groups. The results revealed no significant correlations between any CMJ force-time metrics and horizontal deceleration performance. However, athletes’ height and body mass were correlated with different deceleration performance measures, such as average deceleration, horizontal deceleration impulse, and time to stop. Higher performing athletes with regards to average horizontal deceleration and horizontal braking impulse relative to body mass generated greater concentric power (effect size (ES) = 1.04, ES = 0.86) and concentric velocities (ES = 1.17, ES = 0.97), as well as greater jump heights (ES = 1.19, ES = 0.99). Reactive Strength Index modified values were also greater in the higher performing group for horizontal braking impulse relative to body mass (ES = 1.06). On the other hand, higher-performing athletes with regard to horizontal braking impulse generated greater eccentric deceleration force (ES = 0.81) and eccentric power values (ES = 0.88) in the CMJ. Findings may be of interest to practitioners physically preparing basketball players for the sport-specific deceleration actions they may encounter.