Is basketball the best developer of the lower body?

Thanks. I often hear these numbers thrown out but have never seen it in writing anywhere.

AND special thanks for not ripping me for saying NFL and not NBA.

Civil conversations are possible on these boards.

You shouldn't play basketball because it's bad for your knees.

DaveWottleyess wrote:

track is probably best wrote:

If you're talking about developing the lower body in a manner suitable for distance running, I'd say that distance running is probably the best sport for developing the lower body.

I think my question is a good one.

Why is distance running the best sport for developing the lower body???

Many reasons including:

1) It does very little to develop the core muscles.

2) There are many parts of the lower body if not cross training will become

over worked.

3) It does not develop much if any power or explosive strength.

4) There is no jumping involved in distance running so those muscles are weak.

5) Distance runners make a lot of left hand turns if they are involved with track & field. This can and does develop overuse injuries if one does not take right hand turns occasionally.

The sport of distance running entails a wide variety of training, including plyometrics (jumping), lifting, core work, and many, many miles run off the track where right turns are a regular occurrence. If some aspect of another sport's training proved to be better for training than the current standard, people would just incorporate the training method in question into their track/XC training.

If you're coaching a collegiate track team, do you really think that sending the runners off to join the basketball team is going to be a better option than training them like a track team?

Brookfield wrote:

I played a lot of basketball back in the day while running. Probably too much basketball. One benefit was I developed a wicked kick. Did not have great speed, but could Switchgears and outkick just about anyone given the opportunity. Totally attribute this to basketball. When I finished playing @ age 27 & just focused on running, the kick gradually went away never to return in any significant way. Still racing a little @ age 62, but since giving up basketball years ago my "age adjusted" fast finish over the years is not close to what it was when playing a lot of basketball.

A wicked kick? You probably mean something like sprinting the last 50 meters or so off of 8 min pace. Update us when you can run the last 800 m of a 5/10K race under 2 mins. Then maybe I'll believe basketball developed a wicked kick for you.

I was a D1 college runner, have been involved in the sport over 40 years and still out there racing. Not advocating for basketball as a training aid for running. Just stating what it did for me which was an unintended benefit. I played because I loved to play. Will it help run a sub 2 800 at the end of a 5k/10k, I doubt it. For me, if it came down to the the final 200 & I was there, no matter if the pace was fast or slow or racing guys with faster times or more basic leg speed, the kick was there for me. When I retired from basketball, my kick retired with it even though I continued to run/race.