Eleven male and nine female basketball players from two teams at the same relative competitive level were studied for the force production characteristics of their leg extensor, trunk flexor and extensor muscles. As expected, the male players demonstrated greater (p less than 0.001) absolute maximal strength in the three muscle groups than the females. When the force values were related to body weight, the differences became smaller but the male group could still produce higher values especially for the trunk flexor (p less than 0.01) and extensor muscles (p less than 0.05). The males demonstrated higher (p less than 0.001) values than the females for maximal vertical jumping height both in the squat jump (41.5 +/- 3.0 and 21.5 +/- 2.4 cm) and in the counter movement jump (43.9 +/- 4.0 and 24.8 +/- 2.5 cm). As expected, the times required to produce the same absolute force levels in the isometric force-time curves were significantly (p less than 0.001) shorter in the male team than in the female. However, the times needed to produce the same relative force levels were also shorter (p less than 0.05) in the male group. In the whole subject sample the individual values in maximal leg extension force correlated significantly (p less than 0.001) with the vertical jumping height. The present results suggest that the differences observed in force production characteristics between the male and female groups may not be explained only by the sexual difference but also by the differences in the overall volume and/or the type of strength and power training during the preparatory training season(s).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)