Heart rate, blood lactate concentration, and time-motion analysis of female basketball players during competition

The aim of this study was to examine the physiological demands and movement patterns of female basketball players after changes in the rules of the game. Nine varsity players were studied during nine official games. Each game was videotaped to identify the frequencies of the main movements performed, heart rate was recorded continuously, and blood samples were collected to determine blood lactate concentration when the competition rules allowed. The main results showed that the players performed on average 652 +/- 128 movements per game, which corresponded to a change in activity every 2.82s. Mean heart rate was 165 +/- 9 beats center dot min-1 (89.1% of maximum heart rate) for total time and 170 +/- 8 beats center dot min-1 (92.5% of maximum) for live time. Mean blood lactate concentration was 5.2 +/- 2.7 mmol center dot l-1 (55.9% of maximum blood lactate concentration). In addition, heart rates were significantly higher in the first half than the second half of games. These results indicate: (1) a greater physiological load compared with previous studies on female players tested before the rules modification (Beam Merrill, 1994; McArdle et al., 1971) and (2) lower movement frequencies compared with male players competing under modern rules (Ben Abdelkrim et al., 2007). These observations must be taken into account by coaches and conditioning specialists working with female players.