Basketball exercises: a 10-minute injury prevention warm-up, ankle and knee protection, and jump training

Ankles first

Ankle sprains were the commonest injury in US college basketball, and almost half of the injuries that stopped Finnish teenagers playing. A previous ankle injury went with about 5 times the odds of another in recreational players.

Sources 1, 2, 3

Lace-up braces cut ankle injuries

In 1,460 US high-school players, lace-up braces worn all season cut acute ankle injuries by about two-thirds, in players with and without a previous sprain, without more knee injuries.

Source 4

A 10-minute warm-up

The SHRed Injuries Basketball warm-up went with 36% fewer ankle and knee injuries in players aged 11 to 18 than in players from the season before. It wasn't a randomised trial.

Sources 5, 6

ACL prevention works for girls and women

Across sports, warm-ups with strength and landing exercises cut ACL injuries in female athletes. Studies in basketball alone are few and mixed.

Sources 7, 8, 9

Jump training works

In 32 studies of 818 basketball players, jump training improved jump height, sprint speed and change of direction.

Source 10

Head knocks and fainting

A suspected concussion means coming off: if in doubt, sit them out. Fainting while exercising is a 999 call.

Sources 11, 12

Stop-start effort

In the live playing time of a 40-minute game, players covered 5 to 6 km at an average intensity above 85% of maximum heart rate, across 25 studies; guards did the most sprinting and fast shuffling. Higher-level players covered less ground but had more capacity for fast bursts. The Compendium of Physical Activities gives a game 8.0 metabolic equivalents (METs), practice drills 9.3 and shooting baskets 5.0.

Sources 13, 14, 15

The main movements

Sprints, sudden stops and changes of direction, sideways defensive shuffles, and 35 to 46 jumps and landings a game, figures cited in a basketball review. Rebounds and shots add one-leg and two-leg landings, often among other players. Landing was the commonest way recreational players hurt an ankle (45% of ankle injuries).

Sources 16, 3

Where the load falls

The sites the studies point to:

• Ankles: the commonest injury, most often on landing.
• Knees: ACL tears happened 17 to 50 milliseconds after the foot landed in injury videos, and women's knees collapsed inwards 5.3 times as often as men's.
• The patellar tendon below the kneecap: about a third of Norwegian national-level male players had jumper's knee.
• Fingers and hands: among arm injuries, hands, fingers and wrists were hurt more often than shoulders.
• The Achilles: in US emergency data, basketball was the commonest sport behind Achilles ruptures in men and in people under 60.

Sources 1, 17, 18, 19, 20

What to train (our reading)

Repeated sprints and stops, single-leg landing control in every direction, ankle stiffness and balance, hip and thigh strength for cutting, calf strength for push-off, and the fitness to repeat it all.

How often players get hurtEmerging evidence

Rates depend on who is counted and how. The numbers:

• US college players: 7.97 injuries per 1,000 exposures in men and 6.54 in women; more than half didn't cost a day of play.
• Finnish club players aged about 15: 2.64 injuries that stopped play per 1,000 hours; 34.5 per 1,000 hours of games against 1.5 in practice.
• Canadian players aged about 16, counting every complaint: 14.4 per 1,000 hours, far more than counts of injuries that stop play.
• Across 11 studies (12,960 injuries): legs 63.7%, ankles 21.9%, knees 17.8%.

Sources 1, 2, 21, 19

Ankle sprainsStrong evidence

The commonest injury in US college basketball: 17.9% of men's and 16.6% of women's injuries. In Finnish teenagers the ankle took 48% of the injuries that stopped play, and 28% of all injuries were repeats of an earlier one, most of them ankle sprains. In recreational players, a previous ankle injury went with about 5 times the odds of another, an association. Our sprained ankle and chronic ankle instability guides cover treatment and rehab.

Sources 1, 2, 3

ACL tearsStrong evidence

In US college basketball, women tore an ACL at 0.29 per 1,000 exposures against 0.08 in men, about 3.5 times as often, and most tears happened without contact: 305 of 405 in women and 78 of 115 in men. The authors call the rates low and no reason to avoid the sport. A previous ACL tear raised the risk of another about 3.8 times in elite female players in other sports. Our ACL injury guide covers what to do.

Sources 22, 23, 24

Jumper's kneeEmerging evidence

About a third (31.9%) of Norwegian national-level male players had jumper's knee, pain in the tendon just below the kneecap. In Dutch basketball and volleyball players, men had about twice the odds of developing it, and in young elite volleyball players, more training and more match play raised the risk. Our jumper's knee guide covers treatment; in growing teenagers, pain just below the kneecap may be Osgood-Schlatter disease instead.

Sources 18, 25, 26

Fingers, heads, teeth and eyesEmerging evidence

In the brace trial, hand, wrist and finger injuries were 9.1% of injuries and concussions 12%, and head injuries were commoner in children and teenagers across studies. Without mouthguards, US college men had 0.67 dental injuries per 1,000 exposures. Basketball caused the largest share of sports eye injuries in US emergency departments, 22.6%. Our broken or jammed finger and mallet finger guides cover fingers.

Sources 19, 4, 27, 28

Achilles ruptureEmerging evidence

In US emergency departments from 2019 to 2024, basketball was the commonest sport behind Achilles ruptures in men and in people under 60. Our Achilles rupture guide covers the signs and what to do.

Source 20

Lace-up ankle braces, as trialledStrong evidence

The largest basketball trial:

• Who: 1,460 US high-school players in 46 schools, average age 16 and about half of them girls, randomised by school for one season.
• What: a lace-up brace with two straps, fitted by athletic trainers and worn over one pair of socks for every team practice, conditioning session and game.
• Effect: acute ankle injuries fell from 1.41 to 0.47 per 1,000 exposures, about two-thirds fewer, in players with and without a previous ankle injury. About one injury was prevented for every 15 players braced for a season. Sprains that did happen were no less severe, and knee injuries didn't rise, though other leg strains rose slightly, not significantly.
• Compliance: athletic trainers checked brace use every day; it wasn't reported by group.
• Other trials: a semi-rigid brace cut ankle injuries in 1,601 West Point cadets playing basketball, and across 6 trials in athletes, braces cut first ankle injuries (low-quality evidence) and repeat ones (moderate quality).

Sources 4, 29, 30, 16

The SHRed Injuries Basketball warm-upEmerging evidence

A warm-up from the University of Calgary's Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre:

• Who: high-school and club teams in Calgary, boys and girls aged 11 to 18. In 2016 to 2017, 502 players in 63 teams did their usual warm-up; the next season, 307 players in 31 teams did the new one after their coaches went to a 3-hour workshop.
• What: about 10 minutes before the basketball warm-up at every practice and game, with 13 exercises at level 1 or 2: 2 runs, 4 agility drills (shuffles, skipping, line hops and jump landings), 5 strength exercises (planks, side planks, Nordic hamstring lowers, walking lunges and lunges in different directions) and 2 one-leg balance drills with a ball. The exercises and doses on this page follow the developers' current handout.
• Effect: ankle and knee injuries, counting every complaint, were 36% lower than in the season before, and teams that study staff didn't supervise did as well as teams they did.
• Limits: it wasn't randomised, because different teams were compared across two seasons, and its compliance figures weren't in the parts of the study we could read.

Sources 5, 6, 31

Balance training for anklesEmerging evidence

Across basketball studies, neuromuscular training cut the odds of an ankle sprain by about 40%. The trials:

• 765 US high-school soccer and basketball players: sprains in 6.1% of players with balance training against 9.9%; the difference in players who had never sprained wasn't significant.
• 920 Canadian high-school players: a home wobble-board programme on top of a warm-up cut sudden-onset injuries by about 29%, but not ankle sprains significantly; 60% kept up the home programme.
• 232 German players: a multistation balance programme meant 7 ankle injuries against 21.
• 54 Belgian players, not randomised: 5 to 10 minutes on balance half-domes in the warm-up, 3 times a week for 22 weeks, with ball handling, dribbling and passing on the domes. Ankle sprains were about 70% fewer, though the two groups' rates had overlapping margins of error.

Sources 16, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

After a sprain, and before oneStrong evidence

Across sports, balance training clearly cuts repeat sprains; for a first sprain the evidence is inconclusive, as our sprained ankle guide says. In basketball, lace-up braces cut first sprains as well as repeats.

Sources 36, 4

Warm-ups for the legs in generalEmerging evidence

Other programmes that included basketball players:

• 1,492 female soccer and basketball players in Chicago high schools: a 20-minute coach-led warm-up, used at 80% of practices, meant 0.71 sudden non-contact leg injuries per 1,000 exposures against 1.61 with the usual warm-up.
• One Italian club, young male players: the 11+ warm-up from FIFA, football's world governing body, went with fewer injuries (0.95 against 2.16 per 1,000 exposures), though knee and ankle injuries alone didn't differ.
• 474 schoolgirls: basketball players doing a neuromuscular warm-up had 4.99 injuries per 1,000 exposures against 7.72 with a dummy warm-up.
• Across 25 studies in youth sport, neuromuscular training cut leg injuries by about a third.

Sources 37, 38, 39, 40

High-top shoes: not shownMixed evidence

In 622 college players randomised to high-tops, high-tops with air chambers or low-tops, sprain rates didn't differ, though there were only 15 sprains. Braces have the trial evidence.

Source 41

Ankle taping: untested in basketballMixed evidence

No basketball trial has tested taping. In recreational players with a previous sprain, tape showed only a trend towards fewer injuries. Braces have the trial evidence.

Sources 16, 3

Stretching before gamesMixed evidence

In one study, players who didn't stretch before a game had more ankle injuries, an association. Trials of stretching show no injury prevention, as our warm-up guide explains; neuromuscular warm-ups and braces have the evidence.

Source 3

Jump trainingStrong evidence

In 32 studies of 818 basketball players, jump (plyometric) training improved countermovement jump height with a moderate to large effect, more with an arm swing, and also short sprints, change of direction, balance and strength. How long or how often players trained didn't predict the gains. Most players in these studies were young and competitive. Across healthy people, jump training adds about 8.7% to countermovement jump height.

Sources 10, 42

Strength trainingEmerging evidence

Across 14 small studies of 399 basketball players, resistance training with bodyweight or weights raised vertical jump with a moderate to large effect, and longer sessions went with bigger gains. Alternating heavy lifts with jumps in the same session (complex training) also raised basketball and volleyball players' jumps.

Sources 43, 44

Better landingsEmerging evidence

In female athletes, a jump-training programme cut peak landing forces from a volleyball block jump by 22% and the side-to-side loads on the knee by about half, and raised jump height by about 10%. Exercise and Sport Science Australia's (ESSA) 2026 position statement suggests landing and cutting with more knee bend and less inward knee collapse, and coaching with cues about the result rather than body parts ("land quietly" and "push the floor away" are our examples). A drop-jump test can't pick out who will tear an ACL, so train everyone's landings.

Sources 45, 9, 24

Fitness for the game

A game is intermittent and hard on average. Shuttle runs, small-sided games and one or two interval sessions a week build the fitness (our suggestion); our Norwegian 4x4 workout is the interval session from a trial in footballers.

Source 13

Fitting it around basketball (our suggestion)

Do the 10-minute warm-up before every practice and game. In pre-season, add 2 strength and jump sessions a week for 6 to 10 weeks, then 1 or 2 shorter sessions a week in season, with no heavy leg work or hard jumping the day before a game. Jump training adds to the jumps of practice and games, so in heavy game weeks cut the extra jumps first. Young players use bodyweight or light loads with a coach watching, within the weekly limits below.

Sources 10, 46

Why the risk is higherStrong evidence

Across sports, women injure an ACL about 1.7 times as often as men per game or training session, in 58 studies, and about 3.5 times as often in US college basketball. In 39 videos of basketball ACL injuries, women's knees collapsed inwards 5.3 times as often as men's, and 11 of the 22 women's injuries came with a bump or push from another player. In 205 female soccer, basketball and volleyball players, the 9 who later tore an ACL had landed from a drop jump with more inward knee collapse.

Sources 47, 22, 23, 17, 48

Programmes that work, across sportsStrong evidence

Across 8 meta-analyses, warm-up programmes halved ACL injuries and cut non-contact ACL injuries in female athletes by about two-thirds. In 18 studies of 27,231 young female athletes, they cut ACL injuries from about 1 in 54 players to 1 in 111; programmes that combined strength exercises (Nordic hamstring lowers, lunges and calf raises) with jump-and-hold landings did best, at about 24 minutes 2 to 3 times a week, and younger athletes gained most.

ESSA estimates about 60% fewer ACL injuries in female football, basketball and handball players aged 14 to 18, with 10 to 30 minutes 2 to 3 times a week, best at least twice a week for 20 minutes or more. It advises changing a programme only if it keeps the exercises of one that worked in a trial.

Sources 7, 8, 9

In basketball itself, the picture is mixedEmerging evidence

An early basketball meta-analysis of 3 studies found no effect on ACL injuries, and a 20-minute jump-training programme twice a week didn't cut them in 1,439 high-school athletes, in a study that wasn't randomised. A 2019 meta-analysis found a large effect in female basketball players, but it rested on two studies: a small trial in 160 elite Italian players, with no ACL tears against 7, and a comparison of Japanese college players with earlier seasons. In the coach-led warm-up trial in Chicago schools, there were 2 ACL injuries in 485 players against 6 in 370, too few to be sure of a difference.

Our reading: the evidence across sports is strong enough to do the work, but the size of the effect in basketball isn't known.

Sources 16, 49, 8, 50, 51, 37, 9

What to do (our reading)

Done before 2 or 3 practices a week, the 10-minute warm-up on this page gives 20 to 30 minutes of the parts ESSA lists, including Nordics, lunges and jump landings. For girls' and women's teams, keep the Nordic, lunge and landing exercises in every time, and add the strength and jump workout. FIFA's 11+, tested in one basketball club, and the Knee Control warm-up, tested in girls' football, are alternatives.

Sources 9, 31, 38

No test can pick out who will tearStrong evidence

A drop-jump test couldn't pick out which of 710 elite female football and handball players would tear an ACL. Train everyone's landings rather than testing them.

Source 24

The NBA and USA Basketball guidelinesStrong evidence

The joint recommendations of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and USA Basketball for young players:

• Delay specialising in basketball alone until about 16 if you can, and not before 14; play other sports too.
• At least one rest day a week, and several months off organised basketball each year.
• Ages 12 to 14: no more than 10 hours of organised basketball a week, 2 games a week and 2 games in a day.
• High-school ages: no more than 14 hours a week, 2 to 3 games a week and 2 games in a day.
• Sleep: 9 to 12 hours a night at 12, and 8 to 10 hours from 13 to 18.

Source 46

Why rest mattersEmerging evidence

The working group cites 42% more overuse injuries in high-school athletes who played all year round. The limits are expert consensus; the injury evidence behind them is limited.

Source 46

If in doubt, sit them outStrong evidence

The UK's concussion guidelines for grassroots sport: anyone with a suspected concussion comes off at once; no training, matches or PE (physical education) lessons for at least 24 hours; an assessment by a healthcare professional or NHS 111, the UK National Health Service's urgent advice line, within 24 hours; after 24 to 48 hours of relative rest, a graded return; no return to competition before 21 days; and a GP if symptoms last more than 28 days.

At events run under FIBA's (the International Basketball Federation's) 2025 guidelines: no return on the day, at least 24 hours at each stage of the return, and a doctor's clearance. Players aged 18 or under go back to school first and take about a week longer.

Sources 11, 52

Mouthguards protect teeth, not brainsEmerging evidence

In 50 US college men's teams, players with custom-fitted mouthguards had far fewer dental injuries (0.12 against 0.67 per 1,000 exposures) but no fewer concussions.

Source 27

EyesEmerging evidence

Basketball caused the largest share of US emergency visits for sports eye injuries (22.6%). The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) advises sports glasses with polycarbonate lenses; everyday glasses don't protect and can make an injury worse if they shatter.

Sources 28, 53

The heartStrong evidence

Sudden cardiac death in sport is rare. Over 20 years in US college athletes it happened about once in 63,682 athlete-years, most often in men's top-division basketball, at about 1 in 8,188. Half of all the deaths happened during exercise, and the rate has fallen over time. Fainting while exercising is a 999 call, and anyone who has fainted should see a GP.

Sources 54, 12

Everyone: seven questions

The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your GP or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before the hardest sessions, and delay if you're ill.

Source 55

Fainting, chest pain or dizziness

The NHS advises seeing a GP if you've fainted, and the PAR-Q+ asks you to check first if you get chest pain or dizziness: do that before you play. Sudden cardiac death is rare, but in US college sport it was most common in men's basketball.

Sources 12, 55, 54

After an ankle sprain

Wear a lace-up brace for the season and keep up the balance programme in our sprained ankle guide: repeat injuries made up 28% of all injuries in Finnish teenagers.

Sources 4, 2

After an ACL injury or reconstruction

A previous tear raises the risk of another. Follow the return-to-sport checks in our ACL injury guide, get your physio's clearance, and keep a prevention warm-up going afterwards.

Source 24

Jumper's knee now

Follow our jumper's knee guide, keeping tendon pain at 3 out of 10 or less and settled by the next morning, and count your jumps.

Growing children with knee or heel pain

Pain and swelling just below the kneecap in a growing teenager can be Osgood-Schlatter disease, pain at the lower tip of the kneecap Sinding-Larsen-Johansson syndrome, and heel pain in a growing child Sever's disease: see our guides, and keep to the weekly limits and rest days for young players.

Sources 56, 46, 65

Pregnant

The NHS advises avoiding sports where there's a risk of falling or bumping your tummy, and our pregnancy guide lists basketball among the contact sports to avoid. Shooting practice and non-contact drills may suit; talk to your midwife or GP (our suggestion).

Sources 57, 55

Glasses wearers

Wear sports glasses with polycarbonate lenses rather than everyday glasses.

Source 53

A head injury: call 999

The NHS says to call 999 if someone has hit their head and:

• Has been knocked out and hasn't woken up, or can't stay awake or keep their eyes open.
• Has a fit (seizure).
• Has problems with their vision or hearing, or clear fluid coming from their ears or nose.
• Has new numbness or weakness in any part of their body, or problems with walking, balance, understanding, speaking or writing.
• Has a dent in their head, or their behaviour has changed, such as being more irritable or distracted.

Source 58

Suspected concussion

Stop playing: if in doubt, sit them out. Contact NHS 111 within 24 hours, and straight away if they're being sick, feel dizzy or take medicine that thins the blood. The NHS advises no contact sport for at least 3 weeks after a head injury, and a GP if symptoms last more than 2 weeks or you're not sure it's safe to go back to sport.

Sources 11, 58

Fainting or chest pain: call 999

Call 999 if someone faints while exercising, or faints and can't be woken within a minute, or has chest pain, a pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat, or a fit. Call 999 for sudden chest pain that doesn't go away, pain that spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.

Sources 12, 59

A knee that gives way

Get advice from NHS 111 now if your knee is very painful, you can't move it or put any weight on it, it's badly swollen or has changed shape, or it locks, gives way or clicks painfully. A pop, quick swelling and a knee that gives way point to an ACL injury: our ACL injury guide says what to do.

Source 56

A sprain or a crack

Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) if you heard a crack when you were injured, the injured part has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin has turned blue or grey or is cold to touch. Get help from NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre if it's very painful, very swollen or bruised, or you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps.

Source 60

A jammed or broken finger

Go to A&E if a finger points at an odd angle, looks blue or feels numb, or is cut with bone showing. Get help from NHS 111 if it's painful, swollen and bruised, or stiff and difficult to move. A fingertip that won't straighten needs same-day advice, as our mallet finger guide explains.

Source 61

A snap at the back of the ankle

Contact NHS 111 if you heard a snap or popping noise, can't walk on tiptoe or up stairs, or have swelling and bruising in your calf and ankle. Our Achilles rupture guide says to get it checked the same day.

Source 62

An eye injury

Go to A&E or call 999 if something hit your eye at high speed, your sight has changed, you have severe pain in the eye, you feel or are sick, you can't move your eye or keep it open, or blood or pus is coming from it.

Source 63

"High-top shoes stop ankle sprains"Mixed evidence

In a trial of 622 college players, high-tops and low-tops had similar sprain rates, though there were only 15 sprains. Lace-up braces have the trial evidence.

Sources 41, 4

"Ankle braces just move injuries to the knee"Emerging evidence

Braces didn't raise knee injuries in two trials. In the larger one, other leg strains rose slightly, not significantly, which is worth watching.

Sources 4, 29

"ACL programmes don't work in basketball"Emerging evidence

Basketball-only studies are few and mixed. Across sports, the programmes cut ACL injuries in girls and women, and ESSA's estimate of about 60% fewer in teenage girls includes basketball players.

Sources 16, 8, 9

"A jump test can tell who will tear an ACL"Strong evidence

A drop-jump test failed to predict ACL tears in 710 elite players. Train everyone's landings instead.

Source 24

"Stretching before games prevents ankle sprains"Mixed evidence

One study linked not stretching with ankle injuries, an association. Trials of stretching show no injury prevention, as our warm-up guide explains; neuromuscular warm-ups and braces have the evidence.

Sources 3, 16, 4

"More jumping is always better for your vertical"Emerging evidence

Jump-training gains didn't depend on programme length or frequency in basketball players, low-volume programmes worked in volleyball, and more training and match volume went with more jumper's knee.

Sources 10, 64, 26

"Kids should specialise early to make it"Strong evidence

The NBA and USA Basketball advise against specialising before 14, with at least a day off a week and months off each year.

Source 46

"Mouthguards prevent concussion"Emerging evidence

Custom mouthguards cut dental injuries but not concussions in US college players.

Source 27