Basketball is a complete exercise? Know its benefits!

My greatest gift that I have in life is basketball. ~ Isiah Thomas

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Basketball is among the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world. It is a fast-action game with lots of running and jumping, and provides a good physical workout. It is excellent for training several body systems and improving your ability to make decisions in active environments. The several benefits of playing basketball are:

It’s Social

Most of my friends I made earlier in my new school was because of basketball. So long as you’ve got a ball, you can practice dribbling, shooting and perfecting your skills. Soon, you will realize the way you are joined by others.

Team sports are the best way to boost your sociability. In a sport like this, playing as part of a team helps develop a range of social skills because all the players in a basketball team get to try every player to win.

Mental Development

The attention control skills that you learn while playing basketball can even help you make quick decisions on the job and in other real-life situations.

The game involves a lot of focus. You need to think of the move you’re making, what you’re going to do next, what the other players on your team are up to, and consider where the opposition is and what they’re doing.

Strength Training

Basketball provides an excellent full-body workout and can help you develop muscles.

During a game you’re going non-stop with different sprints and bursts of speed. Basketball is great for toning the legs, butt, arms, shoulders and back muscles thanks to the dribbling, jumping and passing involved.

Motor Co-ordination

To be a good basketball player you must learn to perform many skills with the ball.

Practicing skills like free throw shooting and jump shooting is particularly helpful for training your hand-eye coordination. Rebounding and dribbling requires full coordination. Once you master the skill of dribbling, you’ll no longer look at the ball while dribbling and the skill will become a pure motor coordination task.

Burn Calories

Playing an hour of basketball provides a significant amount of aerobic exercise and can burn a great deal of fats.

When you play one hour of competitive basketball, you can expect to burn around 650 calories. You might even convert your flabs into abs. It also helps in increasing your height.

Some Tips

1. Basketball is a fast-action game with lots of running, jumping, pivoting and twisting, so injuries and accidents can happen easily.
2. Basketball puts a lot of stress on the legs, especially the knees and ankles, and puts pressure on tight shoulders.
3. Warm up and stretch your muscles and joints before hitting the court. Also cool down and stretch after playing.
4. Make sure you have drinks after and in-between playing and don’t overdo it.

Share it with your friends and encourage them to stay fit by taking up this wonderful sport…