Preseason And Post Season Body Composition Does Not Change Relative To Playing Time In Division I Female Basketball Players

International Journal of Exercise Science 6(3) : 208-216, 2013. The purpose of the study was to determine if preseason and postseason body fat percentages (BF%) change relative to playing time in Division I women’s basketball players. Subjects for the study included 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I female collegiate basketball athletes over the age of 18 from a Midwest public university. Demographic data of each subject (age 20.09 +1.81 yrs., weight 71.13 +10.85 kg., height 176.48 + 8.33 cm.) was taken before the initial body fat assessment. The subjects underwent preseason and postseason BOD POD® testing to get an accurate measure of body fat percentages. Data analyses looked for changes between preseason and postseason body fat percentage. A Pearson’s Correlation was performed to determine if changes in preseason and postseason BF% changed relative to playing time. Body fat percentage varied across preseason and postseason (average decrease in BF%: -1.83%) but such a difference was not significant (t1,10 = 1.89, p = .088). A negative relationship was found between preseason BF% and playing time (r = -.707) and postseason BF% and playing time (r =-.728). No relationship was found between change in BF% and playing time

The effects of an unanticipated side-cut on lower extremity kinematics and ground reaction forces during a drop landing

Unanticipated direction to cut after landing may alter the lower extremity landing biomechanics when performing landing motions. These alterations may potentially increase the risk of ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to determine if an unanticipated side-cut affects lower extremity landing biomechanics in females. Eighteen recreational female athletes participated in two blocks of testing: the first block of testing consisted of three acceptable trials of anticipated dominant limb and non-dominant limb 45-degree diagonal cutting after landing, which were performed in a counterbalanced order. The second block of testing consisted of three acceptable trials of unanticipated dominant limb and non-dominant limb diagonal cutting after landing. Data analysis mainly focused on the dominant limb landing biomechanics. Unanticipated side-cut landing, compared (paired t-test, p \u3c 0.05) to the anticipated landings, resulted in less hip abduction and tibial internal rotation angle at initial contact (IC) and a lower maximum ankle inversion angle and a greater maximum knee abduction angle, and knee and hip displacement. Also, greater posterior GRF and a longer time to peak medial GRF were exhibited. These outcomes indicate that athletes may adapt their landing mechanics to land unsafely when encountering an unanticipated event