Considering the importance of body composition and lower-body strength and power for
basketball players' on-court performance, as well as a lack of sports science research
focused on female athletes, the purpose of the present investigation was to record
the anthropometric and countermovement vertical jump (CMJ) characteristics of top-tier
U16 and U18 female basketball players and examine between-group differences in the
aforementioned tests. Thirty-two athletes who were a part of the national basketball
academy volunteered to participate in the present investigation. Following the body
composition assessment conducted via a segmental multifrequency bioimpedance analyzer,
athletes performed three CMJs while standing on a force plate system sampling at 1000
Hz. Independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to examine between-group
differences. The findings reveal significant differences in body composition and lower-body
neuromuscular performance characteristics between female basketball players ages 16
and 18. Although no differences were observed in muscle and body fat percentages,
the U18 group had significantly greater height, overall body mass (both muscle and
fat mass), as well as greater segmental fat-free mass (trunk, both legs and arms),
intracellular and extracellular water, and body mass index when compared to their
U16 counterparts. On the other hand, the U18 group demonstrated longer eccentric,
concentric, and braking phase duration, as well as overall contraction time when compared
to the U16 players. In addition, the U18 athletes exhibited higher eccentric mean
force and power, concentric impulse, peak power, and mean and peak force.
