Air travel requirements are a concern for National Basketball Association (NBA) coaches, players, and owners, as sport-based research has demonstrated short-haul flights (≤6 h) increase injury risk and impede performance. However, examination of the impact of air travel on player health and performance specifically in the NBA is scarce. Therefore, we conducted a narrative review of literature examining the influence of air travel on health and performance in team sport athletes with suggestions for future research directions in the NBA. Prominent empirical findings and practical recommendations are highlighted pertaining to sleep, nutrition, recovery, and scheduling strategies to alleviate the negative effects of air travel on health and performance in NBA players.

Objective: Recognizing the high stakes associated with winning and losing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), a deep understanding of the underlying mechanisms of NBA game-play performance would provide substantial benefit to all stakeholders involved with preparing NBA players and teams for competitive success. To the authors’ best of knowledge, this systematic review presents the first attempt to systematically amalgamate and appraise the scientific literature published in the XXI Century, following a constraints-led approach (CLA). In particular, two underpinning factors of NBA game-play performance were investigated: (1) NBA player constraints (internal variables) and (2) NBA contextual constraints (external variables). Methods: Databases included PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science (WOS), ResearchGate, SPORTDiscus, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and the World Association of Basketball Coaches’ database (WABC). This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model and the Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcomes (PICOS) guidelines. Results: Ultimately, 43 articles met the inclusion criteria (n=43). Promisingly, the vast majority of studies were published in recent years (>2016; n=28; 65.1%). Topics related to ‘contextual constraints’ (n=25; 58.1%) received more attention than topics related to ‘player constraints’ (n=18; 41.9%). Even though the importance of longitudinal-interventional approaches to applied sports science is well-documented, descriptive-observational research emerged as the most popular method of choice (n=27; 62.8%); interventional studies were absent; and near all researchers merely utilized secondary data sources (n=37; 86.0%). Conclusions: Taking into account the total body of evidence (2001-2020), NBA practitioners may use this systematic review as a baseline reference to enrich their current knowledge about the nature, demands, and dynamics of the modern-day NBA ecosystem. Finally, adoption of an ‘Applied Science Research Framework’ is encouraged, fostering clearly outlined project incentives; standardizing taxonomies; sequencing follow-up studies; embracing holistic and cross-disciplinary viewpoints; and integrating longitudinal-interventional projects to increase the reproducibility of their findings.

What Are We Doing Wrong When Athletes Report Higher Levels of Fatigue From Traveling Than From Training or Competition?

In the field of sports science, the recovery umbrella is a trending topic, and even more so in the world of elite sports. This is evidenced by the significant increase in scientific publications during the last 10 years as teams look to find a competitive edge. Recovery is recognized to be an integral component to assist athlete preparation in the restoration of physical and psychological function, and subsequently, performance in elite team sports athletes. However, the importance of recovery in team staff members (sports coaches and performance staff) in elite sports appears to be a forgotten element. Given the unrelenting intense nature of daily tasks and responsibilities of team staff members, the elite sports environment can predispose coaches to increased susceptibility to psycho-socio physiological fatigue burden, and negatively affect health, wellbeing, and performance. Therefore, the aim of this opinion was to (1) develop an educational recovery resource for team staff members, (2) identify organizational task-specific fatigue indicators and barriers to recovery and self-care in team staff members, and (3) present recovery implementation strategies to assist team staff members in meeting their organizational functions. It is essential that we do not forget the coaching and performance staff in the recovery process.

Background: Sleep is considered an essential component related to physiological and psychological recovery in athletes and particularly in basketball, given the impact of condensed travel and game schedules on player health and performance. Objective: The aim of this systematic review is to examine studies published to date on sleep and basketball performance. Methodology: All scientific articles that reported a relationship between sleep and its possible impact on performance in basketball are included. The research processes followed the PRISMA criteria, and the relevant articles were extracted (PubMed, WOS, Scopus) as of December 31, 2021. Results: Twenty-eight articles were selected for inclusion and data extraction, with 27 demonstrating that sleep is a vital component in the recovery of basketball players and their corresponding on-court performance. Three central themes that we identified: (1) the quality and extension of sleep (the better quality and more extension of sleep, better performance and lower probability of injury); (2) influence of the players circadian rhythm (travel and game scheduling do not currently facilitate or take this into account); and (3) higher training loads and/or increased stress may jeopardize a subsequent good night’s sleep, which should be taken into account when scheduling practices and workouts. Conclusion: The current systematic review regarding sleep and basketball performance and highlights that there is a strong relationship between both variables. Collectively, the evidence supports the critical influence of sleep on player recovery and basketball performance and risk for injury.

A rapidly emerging area of interest in high-pressure environments is that of pupillometry, where handheld quantitative infrared pupillometers (HQIPs) are able to track psycho-physiological fatigue in a fast, objective, valid, reliable, and non-invasive manner. However, the application of HQIPs in...