10 Interesting Health Benefits of Playing Basketball You Should Know About

Last month, Basketball Wales announced the formation of a working group to investigate the viability of a BBL Franchise based in Wales.  Basketball is a sport that’s loved all over the world because it’s entertaining to watch and fun to play. However, basketball is also a healthy sport for players.  You can look for local basketball leagues and training camps on sites like nicelocal.co.uk. This being the case, let’s take a look at the ten most interesting health benefits of playing basketball everyone should know about.

1. Cardiovascular Health

Basketball is essentially one long cardiovascular exercise when you’re on the court. You’re constantly moving and when the ball changes possession you have to run to the other side of the court. This is great for your heart health and can be more fun than other cardio exercises such as running, jogging, and cycling since your mind is engaged as well as your body.

2. Mental Health (community, teamwork, social skills, etc.)

Speaking of engaging your mind, basketball is good for your mental health as well. This is because it is a social sport that relies on teamwork and communication. Basketball can help you improve your social skills and build a sense of community with your fellow players.

3. Concentration and Self-Discipline

Basketball is a very fast-paced game. This means that you’ll have to learn to adapt to the situation very quickly. This being the case, basketball helps you to develop mental skills such as concentration and self-discipline. These skills can carry over into other parts of your life and help you to stay focused when you need to.

4. Relieve Stress

Stress can lead to all kinds of health problems, making it essential to have a stress reliever that you enjoy in your life. Basketball can help relieve stress because it forces you to focus on the tasks at hand. This allows you to forget about your worries and achieve a greater sense of peace while playing a game that you love. It can also help you to relieve pent-up aggression as long as you don’t get too carried away.

5. Burn Calories

Since basketball is essentially a cardiovascular exercise, it can help you burn calories very quickly. With all of the running around and precise movements required by the game, you’ll shed fat very quickly if you play consistently. Since basketball is a sport that can be played year-round, you’ll always be able to use it to stay active and in shape.

6. Motor Skills

As previously mentioned, basketball requires many precise movements. This can help you greatly improve your hand/eye coordination, reflexes, and motor skills in general. Dribbling, passing, shooting, stealing, and rebounding will all test your coordination and help to refine your ability to act quickly without thinking.

7. Enhance Mental Quickness

In addition to improving your reflexes, basketball will teach you how to make decisions quickly as well. There are many factors and bits of information to take into account at any given second when playing basketball that require split-second decision-making. As with many of the other health benefits, enhancing your mental quickness will help you in other parts of life as well.

8. Build Muscle Strength and Endurance

In addition to the mental health benefits, basketball will also help you develop your raw strength and endurance. While it may not be as good for building your strength as something like powerlifting, it will still help you to develop a healthy level of muscular ability. Your muscular endurance will also improve since you’ll constantly be on the move and taking action when you’re on the court.

9. Improve Spatial Awareness

Spatial awareness is an important but often overlooked mental skill that involves being able to quickly assess your surroundings and determine your position in relation to other objects. This may sound asinine but it is extremely important when performing certain activities such as driving. As you can probably guess, basketball requires a high level of spatial awareness and will help you to improve this skill dramatically.

10. Good for Your Bones and Joints

Like most other sports that require a lot of movement, basketball is great for your bones and joints. This is because as you move, your bones and joints adapt to become more durable and less prone to injury.

Play Hard – Stay Safe

Basketball is a fun and healthy sport that almost anyone can play. However, you should always check with a physician, preferably one that specializes in pure sports medicine, before beginning any sport or exercise regimen. This will help to keep you safe and injury free.