What happens if you stop playing basketball? Do you lose your skills?
No. You just… lose The Muscle Memory! You see, when you play a game, your mind is constantly creating new “muscle memories.” These are the little mental pictures or impressions that help you quickly recognize what you’ve seen before.
It’s kind of like how you can learn somebody else’s phone number by watching them dial the phone dozens of times. But, there’s a big difference. When you’re learning somebody else’s number, you have to rely on your own ability to memorize. However, when it comes to sports, you can actually get the “muscle memory” for games…
After a long break from playing basketball, your skills will diminish.
This is true of anything. If you stop doing something for a long time, your skills will diminish. However, you can stop this process by deliberately practicing every day. If you do this, you will quickly re-instate your skills. And the best part is you don’t even have to play basketball to do it!
So do you lose your skills?
Yes, if you don’t use them. Skills are like muscles in your body. They get weak if not used for a long period of time. However, if they do get weak, all you have to do is use them again, and they will get stronger than ever!
Below, we will see what happens to the various skills that might happen if you stop playing basketball for some time.
What happens to your muscle memory?
Muscle memory is the ability to automatically perform an action without having to think about it. In other words, when you play a song on the guitar, your fingers know exactly where to go and how to move without your having to think about it.
This is also true of playing basketball. If you have played the game for a long time, your body has a “muscle memory” for how to play. When you first learn how to play a new song, you have to think about each note and letter of the song.
But after a while, you no longer have to think about it. Your body knows the song so well, and it plays it without you having to tell it what to do. This is also true of playing basketball. If you have played the game for a long time, your body has a “muscle memory” for how to play.
Therefore, your muscle memory will start to diminish if you stop playing the game regularly. This will cause you to have to consciously remind yourself of the proper technique and action needed to execute a basket.
The same thing will happen to your singing if you stop practicing. Soon, your voice will become weak, and you will have to consciously work to get the muscles in your throat and vocal cords to sing again.
The good news is this is nothing more than a minor inconvenience. All you have to do to quickly repair this situation is to start playing the game or singing again, and your skills will be back to where they were before you stopped using them. How will your instincts and sense of rhythm and feel for the game be affected? Your instincts are those internal “feelings” you have when you play the game.
What happens to your coordination?
Your sense of rhythm? Your feel for the ball and how to play the game? These things stay with you forever. They are part of your being,
You can never really lose them. What you can lose is your ability to use them. And, that’s what most people do when they stop exercising a particular muscle group.
They forget about it. Or, they think they have “lost” the muscle group when, in fact, they have only lost their ability to use it. It’s like learning to ride a bike. Once you’ve got the hang of it, you never forget how to do it.
What happens to your speed?
Your reflexes? Your reactions time? These things stay with you too. However, they too can be diminished if not used regularly. In fact, when you don’t use something for a long period of time, you actually slow down a bit in regards to that skill. This is true of all skills.
If you don’t use them for a long period of time, you will find it harder and take longer to learn them again. But, your instincts and raw abilities will always be there.
They’ll just need a little nudge every now and then to get them going again. It’s the same with your mental skills. If you let them atrophy, if you neglect them for too long, they too will need a little “nudge” to get them going again.
What happens to your shooting form if you stop playing basketball?
It falls apart. That’s what. And it doesn’t have to be this way. You see, your form is only as good as your last shot. Therefore, if you want to play at the highest level, you must always keep working on your form.
In this issue, we’re going to concentrate on two of the most common problems people have when shooting free throws. The first problem is they try to force the shot. The second is they don’t try hard enough to make the shot. Let’s look at each of these in detail.
How can you get back the skills that were ‘Lost’?
The answer is simple: just start playing the game again! The more you play, the easier it becomes to go back to your old habits, and the faster you regain them. You might be surprised at how quickly you can regain those skills without even trying.
For example, one study showed that after ten days of complete inactivity, people could not jump as high as before. That’s because their muscles had atrophied. However, after just three days of exercise, the subjects’ muscles had atrophied much less, and they were able to jump as high as they had before the 10-day period of inactivity. This proves what we’ve been saying all along. The way to get back to playing at your peak is simply to play!
