REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2

In a recent press report Coach Lew Andreas {1) of
Syracuse University stated that the new rules of basketball make
the game harmful to high school athletes, Apparently there is
very little literature available relative to the amount of move~
ment or activity made by high school basketball players. The
limited number of studies reviewed dealt mostly with the possible
physiological harm to players or with college and university
players exclusively. Lloyd Messersmith and M.S. Corey (2) made
@ study of the distance afcollege player moves in the game of
basketball, in which they recorded the distance each player travel~
ed on defense and on offense separately by observation and by the
use of reproduction of the basketball court and also an electrical
recording device, This report showed that college players travel-
ed a distance of two and one half miles per game, This study was
made under the rule involving the center jump, Lloyd Messersmith
worked with Paul Fay (3) in 1938 and founda that college players
traveled a distance of approximately four miles per game under the
present rule (without the center jump). This is an increase of
one and a half miles for distance traveled per game,

An article, published by Dr. James Naismith, (4) inventor
of basketball, concerning high school basketball players has a
definite bearing upon this subject. His study showed (a) that
there were no ill effects physiologically on high school players
playing in a State Basketball Tournament; (b) the time consumed
to play high school basketball gales observed in Kansas City,

liissouri,