Question

You are attempting to instruct a small group of inexperienced people (college age) in wheelchair basketball. You are going to design a training program to teach this group on how play some aspect of the offense.

1.Describe the mode of control of the movement. Be sure to include discussion of the variant and invariant features and the speed-accuracy trade-off, as they relate to this particular movement. Couch your response in theories presented during the term.

Answer 1

One of the key performance indicators in WCB is speed of chair propulsion.
Consequently speed and power are two of the most important areas for development within an S&C programme. Power for chair propulsion is commonly developed through pressing movements in traditional resistance exercises whilst speed is developed through sprint work within a chair.
True sprint training (i.e. maximal intensity for short duration with long rest periods) has often been neglected in WCB programmes as a greater focus has been placed on conditioning. Furthermore, there are limitations to sprint work within the chair which may not have been acknowledged previously. The nature of true sprint work is that it must be maximal to elicit the desired training adaptations. However, the dynamics of chair propulsion on a basketball court may mean that the athlete does not always achieve this during traditional sprint work. Following the initial two pushes, which generally are maximal, the athlete’s ability to impart additional force to the wheel is severely limited due to the fact that the wheel is already revolving at or just below the athlete’s maximal hand speed. At this point the level of physiological demand on the athlete (both neural and metabolic) is very low. This type of training should always be included within an S&C programme in order to ensure that the athlete maintains the ability to move his/her hands at maximal speeds. There is though, a clear requirement for an intervention (i.e. resistance) to significantly increase the physical demand on the athlete.
Past & Future Resisted pushing is not a new concept in wheelchair basketball. A variety of forms
of resistance have been used in the past such as partner pulling, sled towing, etc. These have generally been used as a method of increasing the intensity of conditioning work on an ad hoc basis. Whilst resisted pushing has been used to develop sprint qualities its use has been sparring and there is no formal research in the area.
Based on the rationale outlined above, it is proposed that resisted pushing should
form a staple part of a player’s S&C programme throughout the calendar. As such, players should dedicate either whole sessions, or significant proportions of their sessions, to this type of work. The nature of this work will change throughout the season. For example, some periods may work on strength development through high levels of resistance whereas closer to competition the focus may shift to explosive power with lighter loadings and possibly even overspeed work.
Loadings
The key question with resisted pushing is how much resistance to add. When evaluating loadings of traditional resistance exercises, S&C coaches will often attempt to measure the power output across a range of loadings. This will enable them to develop a power profile and generate a graph which will typically form a parabola.(graph attached)

The load which enables the athlete to produce the highest power output will vary
enormously depending on a number of factors including the type of exercise and the athlete themselves. It is not the case that the athlete should only work within the range which elicits peak power. The athlete should seek a general upward shift in the curve over the course of the season and therefore there are times when both low and high load power must be developed. However it is still important to be able to identify which aspect of the curve is being developed at a given loading.
Due to practical restrictions it is not feasible to test every GB squad member individually to determine personal power curves. Instead it is intended that by testing a smaller number of athletes (across the various classifications) it should be possible to describe a general pattern as to where peak power output is likely to occur. At present this question is being investigated though an applied research project being led by the Snr S&C coach.
Practical Application
There are number of methods of increasing the resistance during pushing, the most popular of which are listed below:
• Partner towing • Multiple player towing • Partner pushing • Sled towing • Parachute work • Bungee work • Incline pushing • High friction floors • Combinations of the above

Speed & Agility Training

Straight-line speed and first 2-push power may be most effectively developed through resisted and assisted pushing . With regards to agility, WCB has a distinct set of chair skills and movement patterns which must be recognized when designing a speed and agility programme.
A number of these have been collated on a DVD available from GB Snr S&C Coach. Typical key skills and patterns include:
• U-Turns • Xmas Trees • Wall Tilts • Stop-starts • Body swerve • Zig-zags • ½ turns
For more detail on these please see the WCB S&C DVD. This should provide a valuable resource for S&C coaches who do not have previous experience or depth of knowledge of the sport. The use of these movement patterns will provide a far greater performance advantage than simply transposing running agility drills from team sports such as football.
As with running mechanics in many team sports, fundamental chair skills are often neglected in training sessions where intensity of effort becomes the focus. To counter this problem it is suggested that the warm-up period provides an excellent opportunity to develop these skills whilst the player is fresh and the tempo is sufficiently slow to allow for precision of movement. This may be particularly pertinent for ambulant players or those who have not been using a chair for long.
Speed and agility work should either be conducted early in the session when players are fresh, or as a distinct session in its own right. The work should adhere to standard high quality training principles, i.e (short work bouts, long recovery, etc). When designing agility sessions it may be useful to think in terms of the following categories:
• Stop-start work

• Multi-directional

• Ball & chair skills

• Solo drills

• Competitive drills

• Closed drills (non-decision making)

• Open drills (decision making)