Meredith Arterburn

Mah, C. D., Mah, K. E., Kezirian, E.J., Dement, W. C.. (2011). The Effects of Sleep Extension
on
the Athletic Performance of Collegiate Basketball Players. Effects of Sleep Extension on
Athletic Performance, Vol. 34. DOI: 10.5665

This source focuses on a sleep study done at Stanford University. In this study, there
were eleven student athlete participants with an average age of 19.4 years. To begin the study,
the athletes had a two-week period of maintaining their normal sleep habits. After that baseline,
the athletes each went 5-7 weeks with getting as much sleep as possible, which had to be over 10
hours. Each day, the researchers recorded a timed sprint and shooting accuracy. They also
measured reaction time, daytime sleepiness, and mood with various tools. With more sleep, the
student athletes had better shooting percentages and faster sprint times. The results proved that
more sleep most likely benefits athletic performance.
This article is authoritative with expert authors. For example, Cheri Mah, one of the
authors, is from the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory and her email is
easily found online. This article has both broad and deep coverage. First, it is broad in the
introduction because it explains multiple previous studies that have been done on similar topics.
It is also deep because, for example, it provides detailed, clear results: “16.2 ± 0.61 sec at
baseline vs. 15.5 ± 0.54 sec at end of sleep extension.” Although this journal was written in
2011, it is still extremely relevant in the sleep field of study because there have not been many
studies done over a longer term (5-7 weeks). It is also accurate because its results can be
corroborated to a Gatorade Sports Science Institute article that claims, “decreased sleep quality
and quantity can impair performance in basketball players.” Lastly, the purpose of this journal is
to inform the science and athletics community on new results about the correlation between
amount of sleep and athletic performance. It fulfills this purpose by contributing to that world of
knowledge.