Basketball Burnout?
A recent and troubling habit has formed in the basketball community that can be detrimental to the health of these young athletes. We wanted to highlight the potential dangers of playing basketball year-round or “specializing” in basketball.
Recent research has shown that focusing on basketball for the full year resulted in those players having a 36% higher injury rate due to hip or knee issues. This was found through a study conducted by David Bell at the University of Wisconsin which will be linked at the bottom.
A big part of this increased injury risk is the absence of giving the body time to recover after a long season. Even if a player does not get injured throughout the season the body still takes a toll from competing at such a high level. Micro-tears in tendons and the breaking down of muscle tissue through the constant physical demands of basketball lead to chronic pains especially along the joints of the body. Even Michael Jordan would take 2-3 weeks off at the end of each season to fully rest and recover then he would slowly work back into physical activity such as jogging or biking. The issue isn’t just that the athletes aren’t given enough time to recover, it is that these athletes are not able to safely attempt basic movement patterns since they are so hyper-focused in the movement of their singular sport.
Please don’t get this confused with working out year-round as the two are completely different. Playing high-intensity basketball year-round is the type of physical activity that will break down the body and cause injury. Working out and conditioning during the offseason is pivotal to increased performance and injury prevention while in season. This is the time when the athlete can improve on safe movement patterns while also increasing their athletic ability in relation to their sport.
We view AAU competition as a great way for athletes to further fine-tune their skills and gain additional exposure to college coaches. We don’t want this to get misconstrued, however, what we are seeing is some parents taking the “more is better” approach, registering their kids to play in tournaments year-round, or even playing on multiple teams for the majority of the year.
Prioritizing rest, recovery and a properly progressed strength program will help keep the athlete healthy, allowing them to give full effort in their on-court training, practices, and games. It’s never a guarantee that they can avoid injury, however, we’re seeing a clear correlation between injury rate and a lack of downtime. To avoid this stick to one AAU team and be sure to give these young players time to recover in between as the benefits will largely outweigh the drawbacks.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27125793/these-kids-ticking-bombs-threat-youth-basketball