Performance analysis in youth waterbasket – a physiological, time motion, and notational analysis of a new aquatic team sport

This study aimed to show the intensity of efforts, swimming patterns, and technical and tactical aspects of waterbasket. In particular, during a friendly waterbasket match, ten male water polo players (age: 17±1 yrs; height: 179±9 cm; body mass: 74±15 kg) were analyzed in terms of heart rate, blood lactate, grip strength, swimming patterns (horizontal and vertical swimming with and without ball possession), and technical and tactical aspects (actions, passes, players involved, lost possessions, fouls, and occurrence, successful, and origin area of shots). Results showed differences for heart rate intensities (p<0.05), highlighting the 81-90% of maximal heart rate as the most frequent category. After the 2nd (4.2±1.6 mM) and 4th (4.6±2.2 mM) period, the lactate concentrations was higher than before the match (p<0.05). No differences has been reported for grip strength. Vertical swimming was the most frequent activity (74%) and the others did not show patterns longer than 10 s. Waterbasket match has been mainly characterized by Even actions (68%) and shots performed outside the 1.5m area, even though the reverse picture emerged for Primary Counterattack. In conclusion, this study provides a good reference for waterbasket and adjacent sports, even showing a useful model to gather information in linked competitive situations.