Shooting accuracy in children’s basketball: Do equipment dimensions influence static and dynamic performances?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of study was to explore the influence of equipment dimensions on shooting accuracy in children’s basketball through the effects of (a) using basket height and ball size for children and adult, along with different shooting distances (Study 1) and (b) the applied 12-week shooting training with different ball sizes (Study 2). The participants were basketball players from the same club ages from 10 to 11 years and with at least one-year basketball training experiences. In Study 1, we recruited 22 children; while in Study 2 we selected 36 children in two experimental (practice with balls for adults and children) and one control group (no practice). Shooting accuracy was assessed through the static and dynamic trials. The obtained results showed that children equipment provided no acute advantages compared to the adult equipment in terms of shooting accuracy either in static or dynamic conditions. In addition, we found no benefits on shooting accuracy when compared the effects of applied shooting training either for practice with children’s or adult’s ball sizes. The present findings suggested that the applied manipulations of equipment for children and adult produce no differences in terms of static or dynamic shooting accuracy performances in young basketball players.

KEYWORDS:

• Shooting efficiency
• shooting practice
• basket height
• ball size
• shooting distance

Acknowledgments

The authors are sincerely grateful to the anonymous reviewers (especially the first one) for the many numerous productive comments, well-intentioned criticism and very helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic Serbia [III 41007] and Alfa BK University [I MS-3001/18].