The Effect of Post-activation Performance Enhancement of Coincidence Anticipation Timing in Basketball Players

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) method of coincidence anticipation timing in male basketball players. Seventeen male basketball players (mean age 20.17 years, height 1.87 m, weight 80.08 kg, training age 10.05 years) were included in the study. The study consists of two sessions. In the first session, after the participants were informed about the study and their consent was obtained, anthropometric measurements, coincidence anticipation timing (CAT) performances, and one-repetition maximum measurements were performed, respectively. Two days later, each participant performed five repetitions of back squats with 80% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) resistance after 20 min of general warm-up phases. Then, participants rested passively for 3 min. The CAT measurements of the participants were recorded after the rest period. Data were analyzed separately for CAT3 and CAT9 timing error scores in terms of pre-/post-PAPE. The results of the paired sample t-test showed that PAPE significantly decreased timing error scores on CAT 9 mph (p < 0.01). The same results were found for CAT 3 mph, and the Wilcoxon test result showed significantly decreased timing error scores after PAPE (p < 0.05). The findings showed that PAPE is an effective method for improving anticipation performance in sports such as basketball, where success is achieved through fast games. It can contribute positively to game-specific cognitive processes.