Effects of the playing formation and game format on heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, vertical jump, individual and collective performance indicators in youth basketball training

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of playing formation (with or without a post player) and the game format (3x3 or 5x5) on heart rate (HR), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), vertical jump, as well as individual and collective performance indicators in basketball. We analyzed ten male basketball players (age: M = 13.3, S.D = 0.71 years, mass: M = 49.0, S.D = 3.8 kg, and height: M = 160.9, S.D = 9.1 cm) in game situations, which were organized into four periods of four minutes and interspersed with two minutes of active recovery. HR was measured continuously, analyzed by time spent and then placed into four zones according to the %HRmax (Zone 1: l75%; Zone 2: 75%-84.9%; Zone 3: 85%-89.9%; zone 4: ≥90%). The 3x3 game format elicited higher HR and RPE. These players spent more time performing over 90% of the HRmax than the two 5x5 game formats and thus elicited, in general, higher frequencies of individual performance indicators (p <.01). The vertical jump results (squat and countermovement jump) were higher in post-game periods (p<.05) and the results of the collective performance indicators did not reveal a clear tendency, which benefited one game over the others. Also, when playing in 5x5 game format with a post player, the teams obtained higher values in offensive efficacy. Overall, these results suggest that the use of 3x3 game format leads to a greater intensity in training and thus required the highest number of individual performance indicators from the players.