Training and competitive loads of high qualification basketball players in year cycle

Modern sports make the big demands to sportsmen of high qualification of various sports. The sated schedule of competitions and training process create huge load on an sportsman organizm.

Training and competitive loads have reached such sizes that their influence on an sportsman organizm is on the verge of limiting possibilities of individual adaptation (Matveev, Godik).

Women‘s basketball isn't an exception. Especially excessive loads have on basketball players of National Russian team, since in a year cycle they should prepare and participate in competitions both for a club team and for a country national team. In this connection there is a necessity of a solution of a rational construction problem of elite sportswomen preparation's process, and loads planning in a year cycle. In this connection, we put the purpose – to analyze training and competitive loads in a year cycle of high qualification basketball players.

Tasks of research:
1. To reveal structure of a year cycle of high qualification basketball players preparation.
2. To define loads indices of club teams and a National Russian team basketball players at different stages of a year cycle.
3. To develop recommendations about optimization of basketball players preparation process in a year cycle.

Organization.
Research was conducted from July, 2009 till October, 2010 in the club team's preparation process for a season 2009-2010 and in the process of the centralized preparation of national Russian women's basketball team to the 2010 World championship.

Object of our researches were a national Russian basketball team and 2 leading Russian clubs: team «UGMK» from Ekaterinburg – the Russian Champion in a season 2009-2010 and team «Sparta&K» - the Euroleague Champion, since they are base clubs of a national Russian women's basketball team. Players number of these teams in Russian national team makes 8 persons - 66,7 % (table 1), on which the basic loads in matches both the club, and a national team lays down.

Results. On the picture 1 the scheme of a year cycle of high qualification basketball players preparation in a season 2009-2010, reflecting structure of players preparation on system "club-national team" is presented. In the first half-cycle from August till April the basketball players participate in clubs, and then after 2 month of transition period carry out in structure of a national Russian team in the centralized preparation and participation in the World championship. In the same time, basketball players of the club teams, not got to national team structure, have longer transition period from the end of April till August that makes more than 3 months.

Table 1
Structure of National Russian women‘s basketball team on the 2010 World Championship
Player Club
Korstin I. «Sparta&К»Vidnoe
Sokolovskaya I. «Sparta&К»Vidnoe
Osipova I. «Sparta&К»Vidnoe
Vieru N. «Sparta&К»Vidnoe
Vidmer T. «UGMK» Ekaterinburg
Abrosimova S. «UGMK» Ekaterinburg
Arteshina О. «UGMK» Ekaterinburg
Stepanova M. «UGMK» Ekaterinburg
Zhedik N. «Dinamo» Moscow
Kuzina М. «Dinamo» Moscow
Danilochkina А. «Vologda - Chevakata» Vologda
Hammon R. «Nadezhda» Orenburg

Year cycle of high qualification basketball players preparation in a season 2009-2010 on system "club-national team".
The given scheme specifies in an essential difference in structure of year cycle loads at club teams basketball players and National Russian team's players. Acknowledgement to it are a concrete definition training and competitive loads of two leading club's teams in Russia (UGMK and Sparta&K) in a season 2009-2010 and a national Russian team.
From picture 2 you can see that for a season 2009-2010 the club team had 49 matches. Thus in the competitive period it is necessary to specify in a busy schedule of participation in competitions. 1st game cycle of the competitive period has made 66 days for which the team had 16 games. In 2nd game cycle for 81 day - 17 games are played. 3rd game cycle has made 20 days for which 8 games are played. During the competitive period there were 2 intergame cycles: 1st cycle – 17 days and the second - 11 days.

Picture 2
Training and competitive loads of Russian leading club basketball teams in a season 2009-2010.
In the end of April, loads of club team‘s basketball players came to an end prior to the beginning of a following year cycle. And at National Russian team‘s players after 66 days of transition period, since July, 4th the centralized preparation for the 2010 World championship has begun.

In picture 3 it is presented the plan-scheme of National Russian women's basketball team preparation to the 2010 World championship.
The centralized preparation and participation in the 2010 World championship lasted 3 months. From July till September, there was a preparatory period and from September, 23rd till October, 3rd – the competitive period. During the preparatory period Russian team had 65 preparation's days, 54 working days and 15 control games. Further, in the competitive period players for 11 days have played 9 games of the World championship, having only 2 days on restoration.
The World championship has ended on October, 3rd. Club's coaches have given to players of a national team the supershort period of rest after the World championship and in 5-10 days players have got into work in the club teams. A high-grade transition period for players of a national team wasn't.

Picture 3
Plan-scheme of National Russian women's basketball team's preparation to the 2010 World championship.
In table 2 volumes of loads club and a national Russian team in a year cycle are presented. The table shows that in a year cycle of the high qualification basketball player as a part of clubs have 271 days of preparation, from them 202 working days that makes 836 working hours. For a year the club team plays 55 matches. And basketball players of a national team in addition to loads as a part of the clubs within 76 days prepare and participate in the World championship and play 9 hard matches. After that, without having high-grade rest, basketball players are connected again to loads of a new season of club work.

Table 2
Training and competitive loads indices of leading Russian club teams and national women's basketball team in a season 2009-2010
Team The Club team The National team Periods Preparatory period
Competitive period
Total Preparatory period
Competitive period
Days of preparation 76 195 271 65 11
Working days 57 145 202 54 9
Working hours 232 604 836 83 9
Training lessons 106 243 349 216 31
Matches 8 47 55 15 9

By results of the given research we have come to a following conclusion that basketball players of a national Russian team higher training and competitive loads, than the players acting only as a part of club teams have.

Besides, basketball players of a National Russian team after end of a season as a part of club have in connection with the beginning of preparation for the World championship shorter rest period (transition period), than the players who are not getting to structure of a national team, and practically without due restoration after the World championship start training loads performance of a following club season.
Such system of loads is danger to sportswomen‘s health and doesn't create favorable preconditions to a set of the sports form and its deduction in an optimum condition in a coming new season.

Basketball players of club teams after end in April of the Russian Championship have a long transition period that contradicts a principle of a system of sports preparation and leads sports form loss and decrease in player‘s sports skill.

Here the individual work of basketball players previous the beginning of early team preparation is extremely necessary.

Our results testify to necessity of serious revision of preparation's structure of club teams and a national Russian team and are the basis for perfection of club's and National team coaches interaction in respect of methodical unity and continuity in ideology and strategy of high qualification basketball players preparation. Also on the basis of the presented results it is necessary to recommend realization of regular control of a basketball player‘s condition and load's correction for maintenance of optimum physical standards in a year cycle not to admit their congestion.

Ursegov Konstantin, Kostikova L.V.