The construction of scales for predicting ability to play interscholastic basketball

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to determine to what extent a high school basketball player's ability to play basketball was based on: (a) known criteria and (b) physical skills measurable by objective tests; (2) to determine the most useful known criteria and objective tests most practical and useful for measuring these physical skills, and (3) to develop a method for computing a boy's "Basketball Classification Index". The objective tests that made up the battery were selected which required a minimum of equipment. To help in the selection of the objective physical skill tests, the personal factors, and to establish procedures and techniques a pilot study was conducted at Sam Houston State Teachers College. Twenty basketball tests were considered in this study, ten were selected and ten were discarded because they were not entirely objective or were too difficult to administer. The tests selected were; jump and reach, basketball shoot, obstacle dribble, shuffle step, dribble and shoot, wall bounce, free throws, thirty-five foot shoot, two hundred foot forward run, and one hundred foot backward run. Eight personal factors were considered and three were discarded because it was believed that they were not vital in determining a boy's basketball ability. The personal factors selected were; height, age, weight, grade level, and experience in basketball.