Rule changes over the years in basketball not only have altered the style of play, but have placed special emphasis on certain aspects of the game. A part of particular importance is the endline out -of-bounds plays which were introduced after the rule revisions in 1995. However, it has not yet been made clear how much effect they have brought about in the game. We aim at clarifying the principles and validity on endline out-of-bounds plays. Accordingly we analyzed the 31 games that were played in the 1995 Kanto intercollegiate women's basketball league.

    The main results may be summarized as follows:

    1) The percentage of occuηences of endline out-of-bounds plays in the front court was 55.6%; that is, they made up above half the number of the whole occurrences. In addition, there were significant differences at p<0.01 between the number of occurrences and the B･C areas where whistles were blown for out of bounds near the offensive backboard.

    2) The frequency of shots after the throw-in from endline was double that from sideline. The percentage of successful shots made was 38.9% in endline and 27.5% in sideline.

    3) There were no significant differences between the number of passes and the number of the whole occurrences of endline out-of-bounds plays and also between the number of passes and the shot success percentage after the throw-in from endline. The percentage of successful shots made after one pass from endline was 50.8%; that is, the successful shot number was above that from sideline.

    4) 3 point shots and perimeter jump shots were most frequently used. On the other hand, the percentage of the inside shots near the basket was 56.7%; that is, the inside shot number was above half that of the whole occurrences. Therefore, it can be assumed that the success of the endline out-of-bounds plays depends on the results of those shots.

    5) Endline out-of-bounds play formations were categorized into 7 types. Most frequently used type was “box" alignment, and it was grouped into 5 pattems.

    From the facts described above, we may conclude that the endline out-of-bounds plays are designed to give a team numerous scoring opportunities once the ball is passed inbounds and that each particular play is pattemed to make a player open for a high percentage shot.