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How to stay healthy for basketball
4 Tips to Stay Healthy Throughout the Season
A healthy team is a team that’s playing at full potential. As a coach, you spend a lot of time observing your team as players in games and in practice. You should also make sure you see them as people though: they need sleep and exercise, they can suffer injuries, and they thrive on a proper diet. These considerations often go beyond the court and your basketball practice plan, and address how players can treat their bodies right. You can help create a healthy, active team by supplying critical advice on nutrition, sleep patterns, warm-up techniques, and workout routines.
At the end of the day, providing this advice and implementing it within your basketball practice plan can make a difference in how your season plays out.
1. Stress Proper Nutrition
Factors that influence player performance but exist away from the coach’s eye are often overlooked. You can’t ensure your athletes have the right food every meal, but you can talk to them about a healthy diet.![]()
A basketball player’s diet should be high in carbohydrates to provide lasting energy while they remain active for hours on end, often with only limited respites. The carbs should come from a mix of food groups: fruits, grains, vegetables, and dairy (milk is a fantastic way to build strong bones).
A protein-rich diet is another great nutritional practice, and allows players to increase their metabolism while building muscle, achieving a lean body type that can handle direct physical contact.
When your players learn to cook for themselves and have three full meals each day without skipping breakfast, they can prepare themselves physically before even coming to a practice or game. You can’t ensure they’ll do it, but you can definitely advise it, and talk to players who are struggling with nutrition about resources to approve their nutritional habits.
2. Make Sure Your Players Get Enough Sleep
Balancing school with basketball fills a lot of time; for many students, playing basketball is like having a full-time job on top of getting an education.
They’ll also want to socialize with their teammates and classmates as well. Sometimes this schedule just doesn’t leave much room for sleep.
Players are young and full of energy but they’re not invincible, which is why it’s important to stress that your players should be getting enough sleep. Sleep-deprived players will not be as sharp and aware in games and they won’t be at their full potential in practice. They also risk burning out as the pressures of school and increasingly important games mount.
You can appreciate how dedicated your players are to the game and their education while letting them know that they still need to be concerned with their health as well. If players are spending a huge amount of time in the weight room and practicing on their own time at the expense of sleep, they can be overworking themselves. Recognize signs of fatigue in your players and let them know you appreciate their devotion, but they need to take it easier on themselves and rest.
3.
Display Proper Warm-Up Techniques
Before players get into the fundamentals of practice, they should prepare themselves for the physical rigor they’re about to undergo. Stretching and loosening up before practice should be standard techniques for you by now, but make sure that in their excitement to get out on the court with the ball, your players don’t rush their warm-ups and put themselves at greater risk of injury.
Stretching, moving in place and around the court, and doing exercises that allow players to move in tandem are all methods that allow players to prepare themselves before practice and prevent soreness and damage to muscles. The more these techniques become an internalized routine, the more prepared your players will be for practice. So in addition to running warm-ups, make sure your players know their importance.
4. Teach Proper Workout Strategies
The weight room offers players an incredible chance to increase strength and endurance in various parts of their bodies.
Of course, this resource is only valuable when players know the proper way to work out.
As players become acquainted with their workout routines both with their team and in their own time, let them know how to maximize efficiency. Explain that when they have reached a weight with which they feel comfortable, they should start to move on to the next level. Make sure that when lifting heavy weights, your players have spotters. Injuries in the weight room can be severe and you want to let your players know you care about their safety in addition to their proficiency.
Encourage your players to help each other out, especially when some players are more familiar with equipment and exercises than others. Once your team is practicing safely and efficiently and everyone has each other’s back, your team can achieve maximum health.
For more on proper warm-up, stretching, and performance-based workouts, check out our partners at Pure Sweat Basketball and Alan Stein's expert breakdowns!
Your position deals with basketball performance and gameplay, but it’s important to also factor in consideration for the health of your players.
With the proper nutrition, sleep, warm-ups, and workout strategies, you can help your players perform safely and at full capacity.
See how Yale Basketball is using the heart rate tracking data with their Dr. Dish to prepare smarter than ever!
Basketball Performance: 15 Health Laws You Need to Embrace Now!
This article is written by Rusty Gregory of Forte Fitness. Rusty has been an Austin personal trainer for 25 years after earning his Master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan. Rusty also serves as a highly valued consultant to Austin basketball trainer (and Basketball HQ co-owner) Chris Corbett. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and a Certified Wellness Coach. Rusty is also the author of the following books: Self-Care Reform & Living Wheat-Free For Dummies.
Many people believe that to be the best basketball player, you can be is as simple as mastering the skills of the game.
Although this is true, to a point, there is so much more to becoming your best.
Always question what you could be doing to improve and seek out experts to help you find your groove to develop that edge you are seeking. Ask yourself, “What is going to separate me from the pack?” and “What can I do right now, on and off the court, to get better?” can help you define your plan of action.
Other factors ultimately influence how successful you will become on the basketball court. These factors, or lifestyle behaviors, consider your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being and will determine how far you progress. Attention to each lifestyle behavior can separate the greats from everyone else. So how bad do you want it?
The perceived healthiness of certain lifestyle behaviors will strongly influence the decision to participate in other lifestyle behaviors of equal magnitude. For example, if you are committed to a regular exercise program, you are more likely to have a healthy diet.
Lifestyle behaviors work synergistically to produce a greater level of health. The same is true as they relate to your game.
Combine these lifestyle practices with your basketball training to catapult your game to a whole new level and give you that slight edge you need to become your best. Any of these not optimized will reflect potential not realized.
1. Ditch the Processed Foods from Your Diet (Sugar, All Grains, and Vegetable Oils)
When you remove these foods from your diet, your energy level, health, and how you feel will improve dramatically. Expect to see an increase in your recovery time, explosiveness, and quickness when you add nutrient-dense real food, such as pasture-raised eggs, grass-fed beef, organic green, yellow and red vegetables, and dark chocolate with 85%+ cacao to your diet.
Not only will your health benefit from these changes, but your fans will appreciate it as well. A great way to help with this would be with a healthy meal kit delivery that can make sure you are getting the nutrition you need to perform your best.
2. Moving during the Day Matters… Even for Basketball Players
This probably goes without being said, but I’m going to say it anyway, “Get up and move.” Even though you are playing basketball an hour or two a day, sitting the rest of the day can have dire consequences, especially as you age. Movement helps rev up your metabolism, prevents developing poor posture due to sitting, and speeds recovery after a tough basketball workout at the gym.
3. Practice Stress Management For Your Game and Life
The pressure to perform your best on the court and in the classroom and keep parents, administrators, and alums happy tends to send your stress level into orbit. This will affect your level of play on the court, both physically and mentally, and your health over time. Try these stress relievers to stay calm when demands mount:
- Take a hot bath and add Epsom salts
- Schedule a massage
- Practice deep breathing exercises
- Meditate
- Spend time with loved ones
- Listen to calming music
- Plan a relaxing vacation
- Exercise
4.
Get Enough Sleep / Rest to Recover From Basketball Training
Sleep is not optional when performing at your optimal level on the court or studying for the big exam. If you are using an alarm clock to rise in the morning, you will probably not meet your body’s sleep needs. Studies show the majority of us need 7-9 hours of sleep each night. A sleep deficit can cause an inability to focus and concentrate and keep you from performing at your highest level on the court.
Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. So, turn off all lights, computers, televisions, and cell phones to maximize your sleep. Also, overtraining, not fully recovering from your workouts can lead to injury, excessive fatigue, poor performance, depression, and lack of focus.
5. Take These Supplements To Optimize Basketball Performance
The greatest diet in the world may be lacking important elements for optimal performance. The following supplements are essential to having your body perform its best and separating yourself from your competition.
- Magnesium helps lower blood pressure, regulates blood glucose levels, and increases blood flow.
- Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. This helps to prevent many diseases where inflammation is the underlining cause.
- Cod liver oil is anti-inflammatory and improves heart efficiency. This potent trio of vitamins A, D, and K2 creates greater energy on the court.
- Probiotics increase your gut’s good bacteria and helps your body perform at its best. Delicious probiotic fermented drinks/foods include kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha.
6. Add Fermented Foods to Your Basketball Diet
Consuming fermented foods will improve your gut health and strengthen your immune system by increasing the number of healthy bacteria in your gut. Not only will you feel less bloated and gassy, but you will also reduce your risk of developing an autoimmune disease or chronic illness. Sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha are all good examples of fermented foods.
A healthy immune system should never be underestimated. Staying healthy during cold and flu season is crucial to your team’s success.
7. Eat Healthy Fat To Fuel Basketball Energy and Brain Function
Healthy dietary fats control various hormonal functions, transfer vitamins A, D, E and K and assist in strong nerve, cell, and brain functioning. This translates into a higher level of performance due to overall improved efficiency. Make hormones work for you on the court by eating healthy fats (saturated, omega-3 fatty acids, etc.), not against you with unhealthy fats (trans fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, etc.). Some foods that contain healthy fats are avocados, wild-caught salmon, sardines, and mackerel.
8. Give Your Relationships the Attention They Deserve – On and Off the Court
Relationship issues with your girlfriend/boyfriend, teammate, roommate, or family member can not only create depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, but it can also weaken your health and ruin your game.
Who wants any of that when basketball requires tremendous focus, attention, and optimal health to be at your very best? Relationship skills such as an attitude of service, expressing gratitude, and laughing together can go a long way in maintaining healthy relationships.
9. Be Mindful – Play & Live Present
Take your game to the highest level possible by becoming more mindful, non-judgmental, and having an in-the-moment approach to the game. This practice creates an attention to detail that increases appreciation and love for the game. Phil Jackson, former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach, taught this discipline to his players. Mindfulness can also improve and maintain a positive outlook, attitude, and confidence that are crucial in the game of basketball.
10. Make Time for Your Daily Spiritual Practice
Do your game and your life a huge favor, and attend to your spiritual life. Having your spiritual life in check will enable you to handle the adversities of life better.
When a sense of meaning and purpose is realized, hope and optimism flourish, leading to a more positive outlook on life. This outlook will enrich your entire life, even on the hardwood.
11. Stay Hydrated
Dehydration can not only have a devastating effect on your in-game energy level but your health as well. Staying on top of your water intake is not just important; it’s essential. If you reach the point of thirst, you are slightly dehydrated. Stave off the desire for water by drinking it throughout the day and also by potentially considering an electrolyte powder to even better help with hydration.
12. Supplement Your Basketball Training
Enhancing your game with cross-training exercises is not only a good idea; it is of the utmost importance. When you cross-train basketball energy systems, train functional movements, and strength train large muscle groups, you improve your power, strength, and explosiveness. This will prevent muscular imbalances, not to mention reduce your risk of injury.
Be careful not to overdo it. Too much ballistic training, jumping, and other plyometric work without enough rest will lead to injury. A stretching program can also go a long way in keeping you out of the trainer’s office and on the court.
13. Keep Your Vitamin D Level Up
Eating foods rich in vitamin D (wild-caught salmon, cod liver oil, and swordfish), taking vitamin D3 supplements, and getting enough sunlight is essential to reaching optimal health. With a heavy dose of school and basketball practice dominating your schedule, sunlight can become a real challenge to obtain. Vitamin D from sunlight strengthens your immune system, warding off various diseases, and helps reduce the risk of depression.
14. Check Your Inflammatory Markers – Critical For Basketball Players
Chronic, low-grade inflammation is a recipe for disaster to a basketball player’s career. Inflammation begins in fat cells and “grows” as fat increases.
This is a major contributor to obesity and diabetes. Eating non-inflammatory foods, maintaining healthy gut flora, and staying infection-free will go a long way in keeping inflammation down. Have these markers checked regularly to ascertain your inflammation level.
- Elevated High-Sensitivity c-Reactive Protein (HS-CRP)
- Elevated Blood Glucose
- High Homocysteine Levels (an amino acid used by the body to make proteins)
- Elevated Ferritin (a protein that stores iron)
15. Eat Your Veggies To Sustain Performance Levels
A diet rich in vegetables creates a sustainable energy level essential for competing at the highest basketball level. Carbohydrates from vegetables are slowly released into the bloodstream due to the presence of fiber. This slow entry produces an extended energy effect. Easily digestible carbohydrates from sugary, processed junk food quickly raise blood sugar and insulin, causing a sugar crash and a plummet in energy levels.
Vegetables also provide many health benefits, such as:
- Help reduce heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia, stroke, and arthritis;
- Help reduce bloating in healthy guts (healthy gut bacteria), not in unhealthy ones; and
- Reduce the risk of premature death of any cause.
Have any of you embraced some of these health laws and seen a positive impact on your basketball performance? We would love to hear from you in the comments below. Should you find value in this article, I want to thank all of you who take the time to share this article with your family, team, and colleagues. Visit me at RustyGregory.com or on Facebook.
Let’s Review:
Note: The content in this article should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs. basketballhq.com may receive some small Amazon affiliate commission for sharing my book at no extra cost to you.
BASKETBALL: health benefits, contraindications, rules of the game. | HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Basketball is considered one of the most exciting and spectacular sports. But do not forget that this type of physical activity can not only provide an opportunity to spend interesting time, but also improve health, both physical and psychological. We will talk in detail about the benefits and harms of basketball today.
Basketball rules:
Basketball is a team game with a special ball. Basketball is played by two teams, the task of each of which is to throw the ball into a special basket (ring with a net) of the opponent and prevent the ball from being thrown into their own basket. There are 5 players from each team on the court. You can touch the ball only with your hands, while moving around the court you need to hit it on the floor. For each goal scored, 1, 2 or 3 points are awarded, depending on the zone of the site from which the throw was made.
The benefits of basketball:
- Basketball is full of various maneuvers, running and all sorts of jumps and throws. This allows you to use almost all muscle groups during the game, which contributes to the harmonious strengthening of the muscles.
- Basketball strengthens the vestibular apparatus, improves coordination of movements, develops dexterity.
- Regular practice of this dynamic sport improves the endurance of the body.
- Excellent effect on the immune system, strengthen the protective properties of the body.
- Train the human respiratory apparatus, increase lung capacity.
- Favorably affect the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
- Basketball strengthens the nervous system.
- This game is useful for the eyes. Looking from close to distant objects, tracking the ball and players strengthens the eye muscles, develops peripheral vision.
- Basketball is a good helper for maintaining a slim figure and fighting overweight.
- This game is very useful for developing such character traits as self-discipline, focus on goals, responsibility, the ability to think outside the box, initiative, communication skills.
Basketball for children:
Basketball is a very interesting and exciting game, so children (especially boys) enjoy playing it. In addition to a wonderful effect on the physical development of the child, this game helps to build character, teaches you to work in a team, make quick decisions, look for non-standard solutions. In addition, basketball disciplines, helps in the socialization of the child, develops a sense of responsibility, and increases self-esteem. Basketball is usually played by children at an early age.
Basketball for adults:
In our country, adults do not often play basketball, preferring football or volleyball. Despite this, some exercises from this game are included in physical therapy, as they have a positive effect on the body, helping to strengthen and maintain health.
Contraindications for basketball:
Basketball may be contraindicated in diseases of the respiratory system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system and other organs and systems of the body. Therefore, in the presence of diseases, before starting basketball, it is necessary to consult a doctor. In addition, basketball is considered a traumatic sport, so beginners need to pay attention to initial preparation. To minimize the chance of injury, warm up before each game and play with people of approximately the same fitness level.
Play basketball with pleasure and be healthy!
We also recommend reading articles about the benefits and contraindications of other team sports:
— VOLLEYBALL: the effect of volleyball on the human body, contraindications to playing volleyball.
- FOOTBALL: the impact of playing football on the human body, health benefits and contraindications.
- CURLING: health benefits, rules of the game.
Basketball practice hacks: how to score goals for beginners
Even if you are a novice basketball player, we will not give you a training plan, but we will tell you why the ball flies anywhere but into the ring and into your hands. It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team.
Basketball Shot Rules for Beginners
1. Hands up
In pursuit of the attacker, raise your hands, even if you are standing with your back to the pass, and even more so if the ring is in front of you. Your raised hands will increase the chance of intercepting the ball from the opponent by 2 times. Don't overlook this little thing!
2. Throw from the shield
Even Tim Duncan did not neglect them! A square is drawn on the basketball backboard.
If you are standing opposite the ring, then aim at the middle of the upper part of the square, if you are standing on the side, then at the corner. If you hit this square, then the ball is at 90% of cases will fall into the ring. The law of physics and no cheating!
3. Look at the ring, not at the ball
Practice driving the ball with your hand, not your eyes, develop tactile control. Your eyes should be on the hoop while dribbling and be aware of the position of your body in relation to the hoop. Then you will be able to take the correct posture, and the throw will be effective.
4. Dribble with the balls of your fingers only
The palm should not touch the ball, only the pads of the fingers. Dribbling should become familiar to you, like an extension of your hand. Then you can change its trajectory at any time and you will have more chances to score goals. Practice with the ball constantly.
5. Throw with one hand
If you throw the ball with two hands, you reduce the chance of hitting the basket.
All the efforts of the throw are in one hand (in the right for right-handers, in the left for left-handers). The other hand only holds the ball, the leading one holds it with the fingers, not the palm.
6. Do not jump when protecting the ring
Jumping is the main mistake of rookie defenders. To intercept the ball and block the shot, simply stick out your hands. When you are in a jump, the attacker will easily bypass you.
7. Don't look back
When you dribble, don't look back, but dribble and aim for the ring, focus on shooting (or passing to another player on your team).
8. Bring the throw to automatism
Incorporate the most basic basketball techniques into your training plan and bring the shot to automatism. Throw first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the hoop without touching the edge.
Throw the ball with all fives and jump
Throwing Rules:
- Head in the center of the body - if tilted, accuracy is lost.
- Look at the ring: mentally build a trajectory. If you are far away, the ball flies in a curved curve with a maximum height of 2 meters above the hoop.
- A strong hand is in front and throws, a weak hand is on the side and directs, only holding the ball. The elbow of the throwing hand must be in line with the ring.
- The ball must rest on the fingers without touching the palm. The fingers are as far apart as possible and grab the ball.
- Throwing arm bent 90 degrees, forearm perpendicular to the floor. If you bend less, then you get not a throw, but a throwing of the ball horizontally.
The main thing in the throw is the position of the body and its balance. Place your feet apart and parallel to each other: it is important to orient them in the middle of the basket. Then the direction of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw, and the ball will fly straight into the ring. When the feet are uneven, the ball flies in the wrong direction or does not reach (although the throw was normal).
Take a deep breath and release as you exhale.
How to hold the ball and shoot in basketball
How to throw correctly: straighten your arm, point your wrist up, and with your hand set the ball to rotate in the opposite direction from the flight. The ball should seem to "roll" off your fingers.
9. Copy masters and play as a team
Watch professional basketball games and try to copy the movements of your favorite players in training. And be sure to conduct game sparring - this will allow you to develop more techniques.
10. Do not throw in a straight line
The higher the arc of the ball, the greater the chance of a goal and the less chance of blocking by the opponent.
11. Do not throw the ball from a full height stand
This is the biggest newbie mistake!
Before the throw, bend your knees slightly and at the moment of the throw, straighten your body, making a jump. You need to straighten up and push off the ground at the same time.
