Background: The aims of this study were to determine the heart rate (HR) response of referees during men's Eurobasket Championship and identify relationships body composition and other match variables as predictor of HR.
Methods: Thirty-one elite basketball referees (REF, 40.4±4.3 years) were analyzed during a random sample of 38 matches in the 2013 men's Eurobasket Championship, one of the best basketball competitions in the World. The height, body mass, triceps, abdominal, supraspinale, subscapular, front thigh and medial calf skinfolds were measured.
Results: The result was that out of all 4 quarters of every game (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4), HR (bpm and % HRmax) in Q1 (164.2±13.9 bpm; 90.5±7.1%) was the highest (P<0.05). Likewise, Q2 (162.5±15.7 bpm; 90.5±7.1%) values were higher (P<0.05) than Q3 (158.5±13.2 bpm; 88.2±7.3%) and Q4 (158.4±13.4 bpm; 88.2±7.5%). The study also showed that variables of triceps skinfold (β: 1.33; P<0.000), years of experience (β: -0.40; P<0.05) and fat mass (β: -2.51; P<0.000) were the variables that significantly predicted the physical performance.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the heart rate directly was associated with REF's anthropometric features and years of experience. However did not show any association with different match variables such as: total scores, differences scores among teams, duration of the match or ratio time/point ratio.