Vazquez-Guerrero, J, Reche, X, Cos, F, Casamichana, D, and Sampaio, J. Changes in
external load when modifying rules of 5-on- 5 scrimmage situations in elite basketball.
J Strength Cond Res 34(11): 3217-3224, 2020-Constraining tasks are very frequent during
the team sports training process; however, most of the effects of these coaching decisions
are unknown, which leads to less controlled performing environments, with less chances
to promote improvements. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of modifying
rules of 5-a-side scrimmage on the physical performance of professional basketball
players. Data were collected from 12 elite male players (age, 29.6 ± 4.5 years; height,
1.99 ± 9.6 cm; body mass, 92.1 ± 11.9 kg) from the Spanish first Division of Basketball
during thirty-three 5-on-5 scrimmage situations over a 18-week period. Physical demands
were assessed using WIMU PRO Local Positioning System (Realtrack Systems, Almeria,
Spain) and included total and speed-ranged distance covered, player load, peak speed,
number of high-intensity actions, number of total and high-intensity accelerations
and decelerations, and peak acceleration. A repeated-measures analysis of variance
was used to test the differences in all variables, considering playing in half-court
(HALF), half-court and transition (HTRAN), and full-court (FULL) conditions for the
5-on-5 scrimmage drill. Results showed that during the HALF condition, there was less
distance covered (effect size [ES] = 3.55), lower peak speeds (ES = 3.00), less player
load (ES = 2.79), lesser number of high-intensity actions (ES = 1.45), and lesser
number of high-intensity accelerations (ES = 1.44) and decelerations (ES = 1.31) than
in FULL. In HTRAN, players covered more distance (ES = 2.42), presented higher player
load (ES = 1.88), higher intensity actions (ES = 1.02), and peak speed (ES = 4.22)
than in HALF. In conclusion, physical demands can be modulated changing the rules
and court size using 5-on-5 scrimmage situations, and this factor should be taken
into account when designing training drills and when fine-tuning periodization.