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How to wear compression pants in basketball


Why Do Basketball Players Wear Tights and Sleeves

When watching an NBA game, you may see individual players wear tights and arm sleeves on the court. Basketball players wearing compression tights during games may seem odd initially, but there are health benefits to this look. Below, you will learn about what compression garments are and why NBA players wear them during games.

 

What are Compression Garments?

Compression garments are a spandex-type of clothing material that wraps tightly around your body. The material for compression pants, shorts, and leggings is light-weight and made of breathable fabric. In addition to being light-weight, compression garments offer many health benefits when worn. For example, compression leggings can improve the blood circulation back to your heart and protect your legs from hard falls.

 

Why Do NBA Players Wear Tights During Games?

 

The Look is Cool

Players wear compression tights (compression shorts) for a cool look with their basketball uniforms. Basketball players can customize their look on the court to a degree, so wearing tights is a style choice. When you can customize your appearance with your headband, sweatbands, shoes, and more, you can stand out from your teammates. Also, players can have a mental advantage when wearing compression clothing, which can boost their confidence on the basketball court.

 

Adds a Layer of Protection from Falls

Not only is the material comfortable to wear, but it also protects NBA players from scuffing up their knees when falling during basketball games. Unlike wearing a bulky knee brace that can restrict your movement, compression clothing gives you the freedom to move around without compromising protection. Protection can come from hard falls, nasty burns when sliding on the court, and more.

 

In addition to protecting your knees from falls, wearing compression garments can prevent deep vein thrombosis. Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that happens in a deep vein in your leg. Besides preventing deep vein thrombosis, you can also reduce swelling, sprains, chafing, and rashes by compression clothing.

 

Increases the Blood Flow

Wearing compression clothing can promote better blood circulation and increase the amount of oxygen flow through your body. According to the University Hospitals blog post, compression stocking improves blood circulation by squeezing your veins’ leg tissues and walls. By pressing the leg tissues, you can push blood back to the heart.

 

Help Reduce Muscle Strains and Speed up Recovery

According to the National Library of Medicine, wearing lower-body compressions can lower the chance of muscle soreness. While there was no conclusive study that shows an increase in performance when wearing compression clothing, players can reduce the likelihood of more severe injuries when wearing compression materials. Since NBA players play over 80 games a season, they want to reduce the amount of wear and tear that their bodies will take during the season.

 

In addition to preventing muscle strains, compression clothing can alleviate physical soreness from micro-tears. Micro-tears take place during training sessions like lifting weights, where your muscles slightly tear to rebuild. Wearing compression clothing can help with the recovery from these training sessions.

 

Finally, NBA players suffer from muscle fever, better known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), after playing games. Wearing full-length compression clothing can alleviate this psychical soreness. The act of wearing compression clothing is similar to using a cold bath to recover your muscles after working out.

 

Famous NBA Players Wearing Tights During Games

The popularity of wearing tights in the NBA has grown over the years. If you watch a basketball game on TV or in person, you will see more players wearing this with their NBA uniforms. Some high-profile players in the NBA to wear tights include Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Dwayne Wade, Chandler Parsons, and Stephen Curry.

 

Do Other Athletes Wear Tights or Sleeves in Games?

Compression apparel is trendy across all major sports. You will see some players wearing a compression sleeve on their arm for protection and recovery in football. Likewise, many MLB players wear arm sleeves or two for that same reason. Compression clothing is universal in it’s benefit for athletes, so this is not just an NBA thing.

 

Are There are Cons and Disadvantages to Wearing Compression Clothing?

The primary issue of wearing compression clothing is that it can be uncomfortable for some people. Wearing something tight around your body may make some people uncomfortable if used to wearing loose clothing. Otherwise, you don’t have to worry about any issues about wearing compression clothing.

 

Conclusion: Why Do Basketball Players Wear Tights

As you can see above, there are many reasons why basketball players wear leggings during games. From the protection that the clothing gives from hard falls to increasing the blood flow, players are using this clothing material more often. In addition to the incredible health benefits that the clothing provides to athletes, it also looks stylish!

 

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The Best Compression Pants for Basketball in 2022

Watch any NBA game these days and it seems like everybody is wearing compression pants. They come in black or white, long or short and some feature heavy padding. But, from Lebron James to Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, almost everybody is rocking them!

Should you follow the trend? In this article, I want to explain why so many NBA players are wearing compression pants. I am also going to break down the different types of tights and show you my favorite compression pants I use for workouts or basketball games.

Let’s take a closer look at some compression pants I tried myself:

  • Keeps you cool in hot conditions
  • Great for outdoor games in the summer or in hot gyms
  • Reinfored knee areas provide more durability

Price: $50. 00

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  • Full-length tights
  • Keep your muscles comfortably warm
  • Perfect for outdoor sports or cold gyms in the winter

Price: $50.00

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  • 3/4 length
  • Thin and comfortable material
  • Affordable option which works for all temperatures

Price: $35.00

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  • Full length
  • Very affordable
  • Budget option, designed to be worn as a baselayer.

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  • 3/4 length
  • Knee pads provide additional protection
  • Perfect for aggressive basketball players that want to protect their knees from bangs and bruises

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Amazon Prices were last updated on 11/03/2022 1:17 PM EDT

Why should you wear compression pants?

Athletes all over the world are wearing tights not just as a fashion statement (even though I am sure some do), but also because there are scientifically proven benefits of compression pants.

Studies have shown that these tights are able to keep skin temperature constantly high, even when working out in cold surroundings. Another study has shown compression pants significantly accelerate recovery after intense training consisting of 100 drop jumps. This quicker recovery is especially helpful if you are working on your vertical jump because quicker recovery also means better training results!

Benefits of Compression Pants:

  • They help to keep you warm
  • Improve recovery after a workout
  • Ease muscle stiffness
  • Improve blood circulation

For me, the biggest benefit is compression pants keep me warm during basketball practice when the gym is cold during winter. It used to take me forever to get properly warmed up in January, and after 10 minutes on the bench, I always felt as if I needed to start all over again with my warm-up. Wearing compression pants has improved my muscle temperature a lot. I still prefer a hot gym in the summer, but my legs are feeling a lot looser than before.

How to pick the perfect compression pants

When picking the perfect compression pants for you, there are a lot of different factors you want to keep in mind:

Size and amount of compression

Picking the right size for the pants can be a bit tricky. You want them to be tight enough to offer a good amount of compression, but wide enough to remain comfortable without restricting your blood flow. Overall, I never had a problem picking the right size, I am 6 ft tall and have relatively wide thighs, but the size “L” fits me perfectly with all brands. I would advise picking your usual size unless the manufacturer specifically recommends otherwise.

Length

A lot of NBA players wear compression shorts, but as my main motivation was to improve muscle temperature I was in the market for long pants. There are two different styles you most often see:

3/4 pants:
These come down to the shins and leave just enough space for high basketball socks. They are most commonly seen in the NBA, probably because they don’t bunch up at the shoes and they look much more fashionable.

Full-length pants:
These come down all the way to the shoes and provide added warmth at the ankles. The added compression is negligible as the ankles are very thin compared to the neighboring calves.

Material and Durability

Most compression pants are made of a mix of polyester and elastane or spandex. The higher the amount of elastane (spandex), the stretchier the material. A common mix is around 90% polyester and 10% elastane.

​The materials also differ in thickness. For example, the Nike Pro Tights feature a really lightly-woven material allowing for good ventilation and cooling. On the other hand, the Nike Pro Warm is made out of thicker, heavier material, which stores warmth much better. You also want to make sure the seams are stitched well. There is nothing worse than pants that rip easily at the seams.

The Best Basketball Compression Tights

The Nike Pro Dri-FIT compression pants are great in warm or hot conditions (previously marketed as “Hypercool”). The material consists of 83% polyester and 17% spandex and is very flexible. The compression effect is comfortable and less pronounced than in other pants. The fabric is very lightly-woven. If you hold up the pants against the light, you can see a million little holes providing ventilation and sweat-wicking.

Price: $50.00

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If you are used to warming compression pants, you are in for a surprise when you wear these pants for the first time. As long as you are not in motion the experience isn’t much different. But, as soon as you start running, it feels as if you are playing with air conditioning on your legs. These pants really feel as if they are actively cooling your legs.

If you are looking for compression pants for playing basketball during the summer or in hot gyms, the Nike Pro Tights should be your first choice.


If the Nike Pro Dri-FIT pants work best in warm conditions, then these full-length Nike Pro Warm tights work best in – yep, you guessed it, cold conditions.

Price: $50.00

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The fabric is made of 88% polyester and 12% elastane, but it is heavier and woven tighter. There are no tiny holes in the material, so these pants are much better at storing heat and the compression is stronger. These pants are also really comfortable, I never felt any itching, and after 5 minutes completely forget I was wearing compression pants.

​I personally love wearing these pants during cold January basketball practices or when I go for a run in the winter. They also work great during leg days in the gym. They are quite elastic, which means I was never afraid they might rip during deep squats.

To sum it up in one sentence: If you like your legs warm and cozy, then the Nike Pro Warm Compression Pants are for you!


The slogan on the label of these pants is: “Heat Gear – keeps you cool. ” Am I the only one who thinks these pants are named counterintuitively?

Price: $35.00

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as of 11/03/2022 1:17 PM EDT

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These Under Armour pants are designed to keep you cool, which is observable from the light and thin material. Compared to the Nike Dri Fit, however, the fabric of the Under Armour pants is woven more tightly without the tiny holes that are responsible for the amazing ventilation of the Nike Pro.

This results in pants that land somewhere in the middle between the cooling effect of a Nike Dri Fit and the warming effect of a Nike Pro Warm. ​
Compression is comfortable and on par with the Nike Dri Fit​. Overall these pants are a great choice if you are looking for an affordable option you can wear all year long.


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as of 11/03/2022 1:17 PM EDT

I also bought a pair of TSLA Gear’s compression pants because I wanted to see if they are a sensible choice (they cost less) and whether they can compete with the big players like Nike and Under Armour.

The fabric of these pants feels very thin and light and the compression is rather weak. For me, the TSLA compression pants ran a bit small and the waistband was almost uncomfortably tight. I would consider ordering these one size up.

Overall, I was not terribly impressed by these pants, but if you are on a tight budget and you want pants you can wear as a base layer to keep you warm in winter, these are a good option.


out of stock

Buy on Amazon

as of 11/03/2022 1:17 PM EDT

If you are playing basketball like a young Derrick Rose, always attacking the rim and looking for contact, then padded compression pants will make a huge difference. The additional protection will not only minimize the effect of collisions but also significantly boost your confidence when driving to the hoop. I know basketball players that won’t play in a real game unless they are wearing one of these!

I also like the improved durability of the TEFLX material which was specifically designed to survive scuffs and skids on the hardwood floor. Nobody likes floor burns – but they are even more annoying when you just destroyed your new compression pants!

If you are looking to combine the compression effect of tights with the protection of knee pads, then the McDavid 748X is tailormade for you!


Final Thoughts

If you are looking for compression pants to keep you warm and offer tight compression, I would recommend the Nike Pro Warm Tights. Don’t want to do without compression pants in the summer? Then go for the Nike Dri Fit; the ventilation system of these pants is truly amazing.

If you are an aggressive basketball player and you are looking for additional protection, check out the McDavid 748X Padded Compression pants.

Why do I need compression stockings?

Any person who is subjected to constant physical activity sooner or later feels the consequences of this, unless you are a superman of course. Basketball is associated with constant physical activity, which cannot but affect health, and as a rule, blood vessels are the first to suffer, but do not be alarmed ahead of time, there is a way to avoid all this. Today we will tell you about compression underwear.

Let's first understand what a compression garment is. The phrase “compression underwear” can be deciphered as “compressive underwear”, and as you may have guessed, the main task of this underwear is to compress parts of your body to work more efficiently, keeping your circulatory system healthy. The blood, as it travels up the body, experiences gravity and passes through the valves.

In a normal (calm) state, your body does this without any difficulty: blood actively flows upward from the lower extremities and thus it does not have time to accumulate below, swelling the veins and forming edema. But if you start to actively load the body, then the vessels change shape and then the valves are disrupted, which leads to difficulty in blood flow: this can form thrombosis and there is an additional undesirable load on the cardiovascular system.

The function of "compression" is to fit your limbs with a certain force (each part of the body has its own standards), so that your body functions correctly and can easily endure heavy loads without health consequences.

Most studies have shown that regular use of this underwear helps to reduce muscle pain in more than 93 percent of those surveyed. Also, scientists have proven that compression underwear reduces the heart rate of athletes, which has a positive effect on their physical condition and endurance during grueling workouts. And of course, that constant use has an impact on recovery after training / play, which is a big advantage for people who constantly play sports.

Very often our basketball halls are drafty or just cold, so the chances of getting sick are very high. The “compression” allows you not to worry that you will be blown or drenched somewhere, it is clear that it was not created specifically for this, but this function is also within its power.

The Compression Pants are one of the professional basketball players' favorite pieces of clothing. Everyone and everyone wears them, and this happens immediately for a number of reasons: they are wildly comfortable, they keep your feet healthy and protect them from external influences (scratches, abrasions, etc. ), they keep you warm and keep your muscles in good shape, which has a positive effect on gaming results. .

Compression Longsleeve is a long-sleeve sweater that hugs your body and performs all the same functions as any compression underwear.

Compression shirt is an accessory for those who don't like long sleeves. As a rule, foam elements are sewn into the sides of the T-shirt, which protect your ribs from external influences, in other words, if you grab your elbow into the ribs area, you will not feel anything.

Compression sleeves are Allen Iverson's main accessory. Many people think that this piece of equipment was created only to show off in front of other basketball players and feel like a star on the court, but this is not so. This accessory will keep your hands warm (usually put on the throwing hand). Plus 100 to the roll is not guaranteed, but your body will be protected.

Women's compression top is the most essential piece of basketball equipment for lovely ladies. You know why and how it all works.

Basketball sleeve: accessory or necessity

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Basketball Sleeve: Accessory or Necessity

Surely, at the match of your favorite team, you have noticed more than once that athletes are increasingly appearing on the court in long sleeves. Many do not pay much attention to this, but most people have become more interested in what it is?

We have all the necessary equipment and accessories for basketball, including basketball sleeves, which will be discussed in this article. We will analyze what are the advantages of sleeves, what they are used for and whether they are a necessity or just a stylish accessory.

The history of the sleeve is associated with the name of the famous American basketball player Allen Iverson. The legendary sleeve first appeared on his arm in the 2000/01 season: according to the main version, the point guard had inflammation of the elbow ligaments - bursitis, so the sleeve was a necessity to improve blood circulation, and according to rumors - Allen had a tattoo with an obscene image and the league asked to hide it competently. Whichever version is correct, one thing we know for sure - the sleeve quickly won the love and close attention of other league players. The decorative nature of this accessory is already recognized by everyone, but does not bother anyone: fashion has become an important part of the image of basketball players on the court.

Allen Iverson

However, style is not the only reason why athletes use this piece of equipment in games and training.

The basketball sleeve is essential to protect joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons from strain and overheating during the game. Injuries in sports are not uncommon, so in order to somehow minimize the risk of getting them, many athletes, even from other sports, use fixative sleeves.

TYPES

Basketball sleeve can be classified according to the level of protection of ligaments and muscles from damage:

first category - it includes sleeves that are usually used in the training process, they help prevent microtrauma, prevent relapses and are good helpers during the period recovery;

second category - these braces already have reinforced protection of the elbow joint, retain heat well, they are made of a denser material and have a greater compression effect;

third category - sleeves in this category are used for throwing arm brace and are suitable for players after serious injuries and sprains. This type of sleeve provides the maximum level of protection and allows you to play with unstable injuries and bring matches to the end.

We have two types of retainers:

First category - Nike JORDAN SHOOTER SLEEVES. It is the most versatile, used for the training process, stretches well and fits almost any arm circumference. Wear-resistant, breathable and moisture-wicking material keeps muscles in good shape and does not hinder movement.

Second Category - Nike BASKETBALL HYPERSTRONG PADDED ELBOW SLEEVE. This model already comes with additional protection in the elbow area. Flexible silicone foam padding helps cushion the impact of hard knocks and falls. Despite the dense composition, all this is compensated by the Dry-FIT technology, which ensures dryness throughout the game.

Nike BASKETBALL HYPERSTRONG PADDED ELBOW SLEEVE

Using a basketball sleeve often helps to avoid sports injuries. The retainer not only keeps the muscles and ligaments in good shape, but also maintains a constant temperature in this area.


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