A STUDY COMPARISON FOR MOTOR ABILITIES FOR BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYERS U14 & U16 IN TIRANA

ABSTRACT Basketball is a dynamic game, and as such, it requires that players must develop their motor abilities, especially at young ages, when the attention should be higher. The aim of this study is to compare motor abilities performance in basketball at age groups U14 and U16. To obtain the objectives of this study, field test measurements was performed on 110 boys’ basketball players from 8 teams U14 and U16 randomly selected in Tirana city (Capital of Albania). In this study, 53 basketball players were in U14 age group, and 57 were in U16 age group. These measurements were done at respective motor abilities; anthropometric such as (body weight, height, and waist circumference), explosive power (long jump standing), flexibility (sit and reach test), speed (sprint 20m), agility (T-test and 10x5m), aerobic fitness (20m shuttle run test). Comparing data analysis between group ages shows that all motor abilities performance in the U16 age group had higher results (p less than .05) than U14, except flexibility, where no statistically significant difference was observed. At this point, two questions are raised for further analysis by researchers: whether such a difference is because of the biological differentiations among the two age groups or that coaches of U16 focus more on motor abilities development during their practices rather than at U14.