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The Effect of Introducing a Smaller and Lighter Basketball on Female Basketball Players' Shot Accuracy

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Podmenik N., Leskošek B., Erčulj F.

Journal of Human Kinetics

2012

vol. 31

131-137

Our study examined whether the introduction of a smaller and lighter basketball (no. 6) affected the accuracy of female basketball players' shots at the basket. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) introduced a size 6 ball in the 2004/2005 season to improve the efficiency and accuracy of technical elements, primarily shots at the basket. The sample for this study included 573 European female basketball players who were members of national teams that had qualified for the senior women's European championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. A size 7 (larger and heavier) basketball was used by 286 players in 1,870 matches, and a size 6 basketball was used by 287 players in 1,966 matches. The players were categorised into three playing positions: guards, forwards and centres. The results revealed that statistically significant changes by year occurred only in terms of the percentage of successful free throws. With the size 6 basketball, this percentage decreased. Statistically significant differences between the playing positions were observed in terms of the percentage of field goals worth three points (between guards and forwards) and two points (between guards and centres). The results show that the introduction of the size 6 basketball did not lead to improvement in shooting accuracy (the opposite was found for free throws), although the number of three-point shots increased.

Is the Quality of Judging in Women Artistic Gymnastics Equivalent at Major Competitions of Different Levels?

88%

Bučar Pajek M., Čuk I., Pajek J., Kovač M., Leskošek B.

Journal of Human Kinetics

2013

vol. 37

issue 1

173-181

In the present study, the reliability and validity of judging at the European championship in Berlin 2011 were analysed and the results were compared to a different level gymnastic competition - Universiade 2009 in Belgrade. For reliability and consistency assessment, mean absolute judge deviation from final execution score, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, intra-class correlations (ICC) and Armor’s theta coefficient were calculated. For validity assessment mean deviations of judges’ scores, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance W and ANOVA eta-squared values were used. For Berlin 2011 in general Cronbach’s alpha was above 0.95, minima of item-total correlations were above 0.8, and the ICC of average scores and Armor’s theta were above 0.94. Comparison with Universiade 2009 identified vault and floor scores at both competitions to have inferior reliability indices. At both competitions average deviations of judges from the final E score were close to zero (p=0.84) but Berlin 2011 competition showed a higher number of apparatuses with significant Kendall’s W (5 vs. 2 for Universiade 2009) and higher eta-squared values indicating higher judge panel bias in all-round and apparatus finals. In conclusion, the quality of judging was comparable at examined gymnastics competitions of different levels. Further work must be done to analyse the inferior results at vault and floor apparatuses.

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2 Journal of Human Kinetics

1 2013

1 2012

2 Leskošek B.

1 Bučar Pajek M.

1 Erčulj F.

1 Kovač M.

1 Pajek J.

1 Podmenik N.

1 Čuk I.

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The Effect of Introducing a Smaller and Lighter Basketball on Female Basketball Players' Shot Accuracy

Is the Quality of Judging in Women Artistic Gymnastics Equivalent at Major Competitions of Different Levels?