Return to Basketball Play Following COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Due to concerns regarding the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), major sporting events and activities have been temporarily suspended or postponed, and a new radical sports protocol has emerged. For most sports there are few recommendations based on scientific evidence for returning to team-game activities following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the extended duration of lockdown, and self-training or detraining in the COVID-19 environment, and this is especially true for basketball. A post-lockdown return to the basketball court ultimately depends on the teams-coaches, trainers, players, and medical staff. Nevertheless, our current scientific knowledge is evidently insufficient as far as safety and return-to-play timing are concerned. This situation presents a major challenge to basketball competition in terms of organization, prioritization, maintaining physical fitness, and decision-making. While preparing an adequate basketball return program, the players' health is the major priority. In this article we briefly discuss the topic and propose multiple strategies.

Keywords: aerobic; anaerobic; detraining; fatigue; fitness training; injury; performance; recovery; testing.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest with respect to the work, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1

Example of a periodized 6-week preseason anaerobic conditioning program (modified by Hoffman and Maresh [28]). † Sprint 100 m and jog the turns (continuous lap performance); ‡ interspersed high-intensity sprints with lower-intensity running.

Figure 2

Example of a periodized preseason basic power training program for basketball players (modified by Hoffman and Maresh [28]). # Two times per week, not consecutive days; † set number subjected to the player’s level; ‡ repetition maximum.

Figure 3

Two examples of agility and running-technique drills (modified by Anderson [48]). The player should always focus on minimizing the time to finish the drill and change direction. Drills are repeated 4–8 times, with a 60–90 s rest in between, depending on the player’s level. (I) Left with no ball. Player starts beneath the basket and moves from (a), (b), (c), and (d) points to the finish/start point. Player movements could be various combinations of backpedals with hands in a raised defensive position, backwards run, lateral steps keeping hands raised in the defensive position, leap to touch the net or backboard or the hoop ring, etc. (II) Right with ball. Similarly, player starts on the baseline facing the court and moves from (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) points to the finish point. Player movements could be various combinations of dribbling, sprinting, jumps (to touch the net, or the backboard, or the basket ring), passing (chest-passes, overhead-passes), pass receiving, etc. Arrows indicate player movement, dashed arrows indicate passes, the numbered cycle indicates player position, the black dot indicates the ball, and C indicates coach position.