Differentiating attack-defense performance for starting and bench players during the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition

by Wenping Sun, ChenSoon Chee, LianYee Kok, FongPeng Lim, Shamsulariffin Samsudin

This study aimed to explore the differences in attack-defense performance between the top and bottom teams for starting and bench players during the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition, to determine the relationship between the attack-defense performance of starting and bench players and the final competition rankings, as well as with each performance indicator. The rank-sum ratio (RSR) comprehensive evaluation was employed to describe the attack-defense performance of starting and bench players. Additionally, an independent sample t-test, Spearman Rho Correlation, and Pearson Correlation were conducted to test the differences and relationships between the various variables at a 0.05 level of significance, respectively. The results indicated that the top four teams showed significant differences in the attack-defense performance of their starting players compared to the bottom four teams (p = 0.021), mainly in terms of 3-point shooting percentage (p = 0.042) and free throw shooting percentage (p = 0.044). Besides that, the attack-defense ranks of both starting players (p = 0.004, r = 0.757) and bench players (p = 0.020, r = 0.658) had a significant correlation with the final rankings. Points per game, 2-point field goal percentage, and assists had a statistically significant (pr

Effects of high-intensity functional training on physical fitness and sport-specific performance among the athletes: A systematic review with meta-analysis

by Xinzhi Wang, Kim Geok Soh, Shamsulariffin Samsudin, Nuannuan Deng, Xutao Liu, Yue Zhao, Saddam Akbar

Objective

This study aims to meta-analyze the impact of high-intensity functional training on athletes’ physical fitness and sport-specific performance.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted in five well-known academic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, and the Cochrane Library) up to July 1, 2023. The literature screening criteria included: (1) studies involving healthy athletes, (2) a HIFT program, (3) an assessment of outcomes related to athletes’ physical fitness or sport-specific performance, and (4) the inclusion of randomized controlled trials. The Physical Therapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used to evaluate the quality of studies included in the meta-analysis.

Results

13 medium- and high-quality studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review, involving 478 athletes aged between 10 and 24.5 years. The training showed a small to large effect size (ES = 0.414–3.351; all p Conclusion

High-intensity functional training effectively improves athletes’ muscle strength, power, flexibility, and sport-specific performance but has no significant impact on endurance and agility. Future research is needed to explore the impact of high-intensity functional training on athletes’ speed, balance, and technical and tactical performance parameters.