Basketball Athlete Essay
“Building the Perfect Basketball Athlete”
During the past years, basketball coaches have begun to put more effort into working closely with their athletes to maximise their skill development. There are many important components essential to becoming the elite basketballer. Some of the major components that are critical to building the perfect basketball athlete include the athlete’s nutrition intake, the knowledge and experience of the athlete’s game, a positive public profile and the athletes training program/fitness.
Nutrition/Energy Systems
Basketball is composed of high intensity efforts with flexible stages of rest. It is a high intensity game dependent on skill. This means that the game requires both ATP, aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. 85% of the game however, is used with the ATP system. The ATP system offers quick bursts od energy, needed for rebounding, sprinting …show more content…
down the court and for changing directions. To refuel the ATP system and to keep it going, the right foods must be consumed.
Without a sufficient nutritional diet, playing and training results may vary due to low energy and lack of recovery. A sufficient diet should contain carbohydrates and proteins such as grains, bread, fish, meat, vegetables, dairy and nuts. It is most important to consume these foods after a game or training to replace the lost nutrients. Carbohydrates are important due to the fact that they drive energy production and oxygen use repair. Proteins help the muscles to repair themselves and to grow.
As well as nutrition intake, water hydration holds a massive part in keeping the body fit and healthy. It is estimated that 200mL of water should be in taken for every 15 minutes of exercise, to replace what has left the body in sweat. Players need to be well hydrated prior to games and trainings. During long duration trainings, sports drinks will benefit most players as it provides additional nutrients that are lost in the training to help muscles.
Knowledge and Experience
Elite basketball players not only need to perform skills well, but need to have extensive knowledge to read game situations on and off ball and respond appropriately to benefit the team and self. They need to be able to set up offensive and defensive structures and be involved in the game. Every pro-basketballer has had much experience in different teams for numerous amount of years. A successful basketball career starts early with basic skills learnt in under 12’s such as dribbling, passing, footwork, defending and shooting. It is hard to find an elite player who didn’t have the experience of playing basketball through high school.
Positive Public Profile
To become an elite basketballer, having a good, positive public profile is very important.
Athletes are frequently in the media, and can have positive and negative influences to the viewers, many which are young children. The athlete’s behaviour isn’t just modelled on the on-field performance, but outside of the sport in the community. Many athletes work hard at building a good profile, being involved in events such as charity fundraisers, coaching and doing speeches at schools.
As the media coverage on basketball increases, some of these athletes are seen using drugs, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and misbehaving in public places. These athletes are frowned upon by the public, and provide a bad influence on young kids. Therefore, it is very important that to become an elite basketballer, you have to take the responsibility of a role mode by setting examples to your fans by saying no to drugs and the abuse of alcohol. You need to act professionally and appropriately in the public to keep a positive public profile, and to get the public to like
you.
During the past years, basketball coaches have begun to put more effort into working closely with their athletes to maximise their skill development. There are many important components essential to becoming the elite basketballer. Some of the major components that are critical to building the perfect basketball athlete include the athlete’s nutrition intake, the knowledge and experience of the athlete’s game, a positive public profile and the athletes training program/fitness.
Nutrition/Energy Systems
Basketball is composed of high intensity efforts with flexible stages of rest. It is a high intensity game dependent on skill. This means that the game requires both ATP, aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. 85% of the game however, is used with the ATP system. The ATP system offers quick bursts od energy, needed for rebounding, sprinting …show more content…
down the court and for changing directions. To refuel the ATP system and to keep it going, the right foods must be consumed.
Without a sufficient nutritional diet, playing and training results may vary due to low energy and lack of recovery. A sufficient diet should contain carbohydrates and proteins such as grains, bread, fish, meat, vegetables, dairy and nuts. It is most important to consume these foods after a game or training to replace the lost nutrients. Carbohydrates are important due to the fact that they drive energy production and oxygen use repair. Proteins help the muscles to repair themselves and to grow.
As well as nutrition intake, water hydration holds a massive part in keeping the body fit and healthy. It is estimated that 200mL of water should be in taken for every 15 minutes of exercise, to replace what has left the body in sweat. Players need to be well hydrated prior to games and trainings. During long duration trainings, sports drinks will benefit most players as it provides additional nutrients that are lost in the training to help muscles.
Knowledge and Experience
Elite basketball players not only need to perform skills well, but need to have extensive knowledge to read game situations on and off ball and respond appropriately to benefit the team and self. They need to be able to set up offensive and defensive structures and be involved in the game. Every pro-basketballer has had much experience in different teams for numerous amount of years. A successful basketball career starts early with basic skills learnt in under 12’s such as dribbling, passing, footwork, defending and shooting. It is hard to find an elite player who didn’t have the experience of playing basketball through high school.
Positive Public Profile
To become an elite basketballer, having a good, positive public profile is very important.
Athletes are frequently in the media, and can have positive and negative influences to the viewers, many which are young children. The athlete’s behaviour isn’t just modelled on the on-field performance, but outside of the sport in the community. Many athletes work hard at building a good profile, being involved in events such as charity fundraisers, coaching and doing speeches at schools.
As the media coverage on basketball increases, some of these athletes are seen using drugs, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and misbehaving in public places. These athletes are frowned upon by the public, and provide a bad influence on young kids. Therefore, it is very important that to become an elite basketballer, you have to take the responsibility of a role mode by setting examples to your fans by saying no to drugs and the abuse of alcohol. You need to act professionally and appropriately in the public to keep a positive public profile, and to get the public to like
you.