Hoop Science
Basketball is more than the slam-dunks shown on television sports shows. It is a sport of agility and endurance. It's also a sport of science. From practice to powering up to play, there's tons of science involved in basketball.
Basketball is considered a stop-and-go sport - meaning that players have spurts of intense activity. Sports physiologists, also known as sports scientists, spend lots of time studying the impact basketball has on a player's body. These scientists look at things like muscle development, nutrition and sleep levels. Years of study have contributed to everything from what a player wears during the game (like their shoes) to what a player eats and drinks and how he or she exercises during training. For example, let's consider the slam dunks you see on television. There are a number of things that come together to allow a player to perform such an exciting move.
Jumping Just Right
Sports scientists, coaches and players have all learned that besides practice, certain types of exercise are more helpful than others when it comes to jumping. One such exercise is "jump training," a form of plyometrics. Plyometrics requires you to stretch a muscle before you contract it. Many sports scientists believe that this not only makes your muscles stronger, but it can also help you to jump higher with less impact on your joints. To be able to jump high enough to slam the ball into the basket, a player has to exert a lot of force when he pushes off the court floor. Stronger muscles allow for more force. More force means more height. And more height makes for a superior slam dunk.
Eating Right
Basketball players sweat a lot and burn a lot of calories. So, besides special training, most basketball players need a special diet. Again, based on scientific studies, we know that for stop-and-go sports like basketball, it's particularly important to get plenty of fluids before, during and after a game. There are lots of sports drinks that contain extra potassium and carbohydrates, but a well-fed player should be fine with plenty of plain water. What's well-fed? For most basketball players, that means three healthy meals and two or three carbohydrate-rich snacks per day.
WebQuest Online Exercise
Using this Web site (http://www.nba.com/statistics/index.html), complete the table below. Find the games and points for these NBA "All Time Leading" players and then calculate each player's average number of points per game and graph the results.
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NBA All-time Leading Players
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| NBA Player | Games Played | Points | Points per Game |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
1,560 |
38,387 |
24.6 |
| Karl Malone |
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| Michael Jordan |
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| Wilt Chamberlain |
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| Moses Malone |
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| Elvin Hayes |
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| Hakeem Olajuwon |
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| Oscar Robertson |
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| Dominique Wilkins |
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| John Havlicek |
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You can create a second graphing exercise just like this one using WNBA statistics instead. For a list of players and stats, visit this Web site: http://www.wnba.com/statistics/index.html. Use this empty table below:
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WNBA All-time Leading Players
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| WNBA Player | Games Played | Points | Points per Game |
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