Basketball is amongst the popular sports played and watched in the world. It is a team oriented sport that involves two to five members trying to score points against each other by throwing a ball through a high hoop (Page, 2000). The game requires running back and forth in a two-sided court. It involves jumping, arm movements through dribbling, throwing, catching, and blocking. All these activities paired with the amount of time that the game takes during competitions lead to deep cardiovascular activity.
Watching basketball tournaments may be enjoyable, but not as amusing as enjoyable as playing the game. Health-wise basketball enhances heart performance as it promotes cardiovascular endurance. This reduces risks of heart failure and stroke. The game assists in developing the lower and upper body strength. Building on these muscles promotes body balance. Jumping, which forms a significant part of the game, improves on bone health.
The game provides an superb full-body workout that develops body muscles. Speculators may not realize how physically intense the game is to the players. Rebounding and defense highly rely on body positioning, and the ability of the body to maintain a position even when some pressure or force is exerted by opponents or fellow team members (Page, 2000). Defensive basketball develops a player’s deltoids, lower back, neck, core muscles, and traps. The running and jumping involved develops groin muscles, as well as toning the legs of the player’s. Dribbling and shooting also boosts arms strength, hand muscles, and wrist flexors.
The game involves working as a team. All the members depend on each other for scoring points. Playing as a team helps in development of a range of social skills that are crucial for individual development. Such skills boost integration and cohesion abilities of an individual to serve the purpose of diversity in communities. High efficiency is also guaranteed from individuals who work as a team (Page, 2000). Since teams are made up of individual efforts it is possible to accomplish more than what one person can achieve. Speed is also ensured from working as a team.
The game boosts individual’s way of handling challenges from the fast thinking element. It also allows one to create thoughtful ideas, which is applicable in almost every scenario. For example, when faced with work or class work challenges, a basketball player brings out the knowledge to bear, which results into development of approaches and solutions that a non-player may not have identified.
Basketball boosts mental focus and development. It is believed that around 70% of basketball is mental. The game requires a lot of physical skills, but also a fast thinker. Research on the mental element of basketball reveals that players must be attentive to have quick and fast control of the ball, and the activities happening in the court. They should make fast decisions with the ball as they dribble to their next moves. Control of the ball refers to the ability to direct the player’s focus in the intended direction (Page, 2000). While playing, training to constantly observe the team members and opponents while at the same time evaluating their intended course of action requires a lot of mental involvement.
Playing basketball requires learning how to perform a wide range of activities simultaneously. It requires skills such as throwing, shooting, and jumping. This facilitates hand-eye coordination. It also requires skills of rebounding on shots so that there is timing of the jump, reaching the ball as it caroms from the hoop, and achieving this before the other players. Rebounding coordinates eye and hand moves as the player must secure the ball with his/her hands whilst watching the other players’ intentions (Page, 2000).
Dribbling is also another skill in basketball that boosts coordination of body parts. Dribbling requires high degree of concentration and coordination of the eyes, hands, and legs. Dribbling while standing is not allowable in the game, and that explains the why the legs from part of dribbling. Once this skill is acquired, players no longer require looking at the ball, and the skill becomes a motor coordination task.
The most useful element of playing basketball is the ability of the involvement to burn excess fats and calories (Page, 2000). Players perform a diverse set of activities including running, lateral movements, jumping, and throwing. Playing for at least half an hour gives a significant amount of aerobic workout, and burns a significant amount of calories. The number of calories burnt, however, depends on a player’s weight, physical fitness and health, efforts applied, and energy spent while in the court.
Conclusively, the scientific benefits of basketball are more skewed towards body fitness and health though the game has been used for other corporate social duties by organizations. For players to experience optimal benefits of basketball they should check on the time allocated for the game. Maximum benefits may be achieved by players who play for an hour. During this time muscles relax, coordination improves, the heart rates balance, and the brain actively coordinates all the activities (Page, 2000). It boosts team working and ability to make decisions fast and effectively in working environment.
REFERENCE.
Page, J. P. (2000). The benefits of regular physical activity. JAMA, Vol. 283(22), 3030.
