Vol. 51 - No. 1 THE JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS 33 J SPORTS MED PHYS FITNESS 2011;51:33-41 I. G. FATOUROS 1 , K. LAPARIDIS 1 , A. KAMBAS 1 , A. CHATZINIKOLAOU 1 , E. TECHLIKIDOU 1 , I. KATRABASAS 2 , I. DOUROUDOS 1 , D. LEONTSINI 1 , F. BERBERIDOU 1 , D. DRAGANIDIS 1 , C. CHRISTOFORIDIS 1 , D. TSOUKAS 3 , S. KELIS 4 , K. TAXILDARIS 1 Validity and reliability of the single-trial line drill test of anaerobic power in basketball players Acknowledgements.—The authors wish to thank all the subjects for their participation and commitment to the study. Funding.—This study was supported by departmental funds. Conflicts of interest.—None. Received on January 18, 2010. Accepted for publication on December 22, 2010. Corresponding author: I. G. Fatouros, PhD, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University Campus, 69100, Komotini, Greece. E-mail: fatouros@otenet.gr 1 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece 2 Department of Orthopedics Asklipieion General Hospital, Voula, Athens, Greece 3 Department of Orthopedics, Athens Medical Center Marousi, Athens, Greece 4 Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, Greece Aim. This study evaluated the validity, reliability, and sensi- tivity of the single-trial line drill test (SLDT) for anaerobic power assessment. Methods. Twenty-four volunteers were assigned to either a control (C, N.=12) or an experimental (BP, N.=12 basketball players) group. SLDT’s (time-to-complete) concurrent valid- ity was evaluated against the Wingate testing (WAnT: mean [MP] and peak power [PP]) and a 30-sec vertical jump testing test (VJT: mean height and MP). Blood lactate concentration was measured at rest and immediately post-test. SLDT’s re- liability [test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV), Bland-Altman plots] and sensi- tivity were determined (one-way ANOVA). Results. Kendall’s tau correlation analysis revealed correla- tions (P<0.05) between SLDT time and WAnT’s PP (=0.78) and MP (=0.56) and VJT’s MP (=0.85) and height (=0.90). SLDT lactate concentration was moderately (P<0.05) cor- related with the respective lactate values of WAnT (=0.40) and VJT (=0.66). SLDT time in BP correlated (P<0.05) with VJT’s MP (=0.80) and height (=0.90) but not with WAnT performance variables. SLDT lactate responses in BP were moderately (P<0.05) correlated with WAnT’s PP (=0.54) and VJT MP (=0.68), height (=0.65), and lactate concentration (=0.65). ICCs for time and lactate were 0.92 and 0.93, respec- tively (P<0.05) although Bland-Altman plots and CV indicate that SLDT time demonstrated greater reliability than lactate responses. In all tests, BP demonstrated higher (P<0.05) per- formance levels compared to C indicating an adequate sensi- tivity for SLDT. Conclusion. Results suggest that the SLDT appears to be a valid, reliable, and sensitive field test of anaerobic capacity for basketball players. Key words: Lactates - Basketball - Exercise test. B asketball is a multiple-sprint sport characterized by periods of high-intensity activity (sprinting, running, jumping) interspersed with intervals of low- er intensity actions (jogging or walking) and/or ac- tive or passive recovery. 1 Basketball’s physiological requirements have been suggested to be addressed by both aerobic 2 and anaerobic 3 metabolism al- though basketball appears to depend more on the athletes’ anaerobic power and endurance rather than on aerobic power, 4 which drives the recovery of en- ergy systems between high intensity actions. Indeed, the large number of high-intensity actions (jumps, pushes) during a basketball game underline the sig- MINERVA MEDICA COPYRIGHT®