Basketball Nutrition

In this article we will be looking at basketball nutrition and learning how a good diet can greatly improve your basketball performance. Basketball can be a demanding sport that requires speed, endurance, agility and a sharp mental focus to compete at the advanced level. Many players, especially non professionals often ignore the role good nutrition can play in their performance. It is no surprise that top NBA players have specialist nutrition coaches that are there to make sure they are getting the right nutrients needed to fuel their performance and keep them playing at the top of their game.

As basketball players, one of the most difficult things we face on the court is fatigue and subsequently one of the most important roles for basketball nutrition is the help fight physical and mental fatigue on the court. A good basketball nutrition program will keep your energy levels up throughout the game and can also help prevent injury on the court. Many injuries are the result of player being physically and mentally tired and often occur toward the end of the match when players are most exhausted.

Because of the physical nature of the game, basketball players have two main nutritional requirements. Basketball players need to make sure they have enough carbohydrate to provide the fuel for physical exercise and they also need to stay adequately hydrated throughout the match. Dehydration can have all sorts of negative consequences for a basketball player and will result in both physical and mental fatigue.

Basketball players must stay hydrated before, during and after practice and games. Dehydration often happens without a player realising. You should generally focus on pure water for your hydration and drink plenty during the game. Players need to drink plenty of water before, during and after a game as they will lose quite a bit of water during play. Other good alternatives are sports drinks such as Powerade or Gatorade but pure water should be a top priority. Basketball players need to learn how much to drink to keep them hydrated and this may require some trial and error to get it right.

The next nutritional requirement is carbohydrate. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel in basketball and therefore we need to make sure our pre game meal supplies us with enough energy to make it through the match. Once carbohydrate supplies in the body become depleted, we experience fatigue which can result in decreased speed, quickness, reaction time and declining endurance, decision making abilities, and mental focus. It should be obvious that basketball players need to focus really carefully on getting enough carbohydrate before a game. There are generally two different types of carbohydrate, slow acting carbohydrates found in foods such as oatmeal and brown rice and fast acting sugary carbohydrates such as white pasta and white bread.

Pre game basketball nutrition

Getting your pre game meals right will definitely improve your basketball performance. You should aim to eat your meal about 2 hours before the game and focus heavily on getting lots of carbohydrate and protein to keep your energy levels up and to fuel your muscles. As a general rule basketball players should aim to have 2/3 of their meal as carbohydrate and the remaining 1/3 as protein. As well as the pre game meal, players should also make sure they drink plenty of water before with the meal and have a carbohydrate rich sports drink just before the game. Sports drinks will contain the fluid and carbohydrate needed to maintain hydration and energy levels during basketball.

During the game

The main focus during the basketball game is to keep hydrated and you can do this by regularly taking in a sports drink at regular intervals to provide you with hydration and carbohydrate. If you are getting a lot of play and working hard, it is also worth consuming some solid food such as fruit during half time to restock and replenish your glycogen levels. If you do not get enough fuel during the game you may find yourself dehydrated and fatigued meaning poor performance and a reduced mental focus during the game.

Post game basketball nutrition

After your match you will want to make sure you eat some solid food to help your body recover from the stress of the match. Try and consume some carbohydrate and protein after the match. Good choice for this would be protein bars and fruit. If you miss out on your post game basketball nutrition, you may find yourself tired and lacking energy the next day which can be disastrous if you have to play another match or go to training.

In summary, a basketball player looking to improve his game should aim to consume plenty of carbohydrate and some protein before a match, keep hydrated during the game and make sure they take in a post game meal to help them recover and stay on top form for the next match. Carbohydrates, water and protein are the key ingredients to a good basketball nutrition program.