If your idea of a good time is dribbling, jumping, running and squeaking your sneakers, you’re in good company. Basketball is America’s sport of choice. More Americans play basketball than any other sport, according to the Fitness Products Council.
Last year more than 47 million hit the courts (compared to 36 million who walked for exercise).
Why?
“Three reasons,” says Dan Kellams, spokesman for the American Basketball Council. “The opportunities to play keep growing; the NBA has done a fabulous job promoting the sport; and it’s easy to play, indoors or out. One person can even play alone and have a satisfactory experience.”
Basketball provides an incredible workout. Players can burn 630 calories an hour, just slightly less than digging ditches, and keep up the pace for several hours at a time.
Nearly half the people who played basketball last year were school children of both sexes between the ages of 6 and 17, but a surprising 7 million were males over 35. They account for the fastest growing category of player.
“Baby Boomers started the fitness revolution, and they’re not going to give it up as they age,” Kellams says.
“Males 35 and over are clinging to the sport and reinventing it for older players,” echoes Gregg Hartley, executive director of the council.
The number of players 35 to 54 has more than doubled in the last seven years.
Older female players are harder to find, probably because they weren’t taught to play basketball when they were in school. Title IX has changed all that. Girls now account for 30 percent of all players 6 to 11 years old and 50 percent of those 12 to 17.
“The opportunities for young girls have increased with youth leagues and school teams,” says Anne Flannery, manager of women’s sports at Spalding Sports. “If a woman wants to play and she can hold her own, she can always play in a men’s game, although that’s not ideal.”
Women have joined men’s teams in some cities, Kellams says, and a few have been spotted playing in previously all-male pickup games on New York City street courts.
Because the sport involves running, jumping, quick changes in direction and body contact, basketball is responsible for more injuries each year than any sport except football. Most are knee and ankle injuries.
“That’s due to too much stress too soon,” says Karin DeBenedetti, athletic trainer with Western Orthopedics. “Most people aren’t conditioned before they play.”
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Dee Tidwell, exercise physiologist and owner of Excel Fitness Personal Training, in Denver, suggests these ways to prevent injury and improve your game:
– Warm up. Take four or five slow laps around the court before you start to play. It should take no more than five minutes.
– Stretch. Spend another five or 10 minutes working out the kinks. Stretch your shoulders, back, hips, groin and calves, then pay special attention to thigh muscles. They rarely tear during a game, but tight hamstrings can put pressure on the lower back, knees and ankles, which do rip. Throw in a few ankle rolls and twists for good measure.
– Strengthen. Strong legs are hard to injure, although they won’t make you invincible. In the best of all worlds, you’ve strengthened them before the basketball season began, but it’s not too late to start weight training now.
– Train three days a week with free weights or weight machines, concentrating on exercises that work thigh and calf muscles. Don’t ignore the shoulders, upper and lower arms, abdomen, hips and groin.
– Breathe. If you can’t catch your breath after a fast break, you won’t be much good to your teammates. Strengthen your lungs with any cardiovascular exercise, or try this routine. It may also improve your coordination on the court:
Twice a week, either before or after your basketball game, hang around for 30 minutes of cardiovascular training (or visit the gym any time you have half an hour to spare):
Run four or five laps around the court, sprinting down one long side and jogging the rest of the way around.
Switch to baseline-to-baseline drills. From a dead standstill, sprint one-fourth of the way across the court, then walk back to the baseline. Next sprint half way across, then three-fourths of the way and finally the full length of the court.
– Jump. Men’s Journal suggests this exercise to increase your jumping strength:
Put a piece of tape on a wall, about 10 feet above the floor. Standing in front of the wall, jump and try to touch the tape with your right hand. As you land, bend your knees slightly to absorb the impact, then explode up to hit the tape with your left hand. Do two sets of six jumps, twice a week for two weeks.