A basketball game is demanding but interesting at the same time. Often it involves lots of running as you play the game on the court. But have you ever wondered how many laps around a basketball court is a mile?
Such an interesting question requires honest response. Read on to find the in-depth coverage of the matter. And why would a basketball player run around the court?
Reasons to Run Around a Basketball Court
There are two vital reasons for players to run around basketball courts.
Stamina and strength Training
A basketball game requires stamina and strength. The sport demands that players make numerous sprints all over the court. And so as a player you have to train hard to increase your stamina and strength. One such kind of training is running around a basketball court.
Punishment
Each coach has his favorite form of punishment for his players. When you come late or fail to follow the basketball drills, often you may be told to go around the basketball courts.
To determine the number of laps around the basketball pitch that makes a mile, you have to know the size of a basketball court.
What’s the Size of a Basketball Court?
When we talk about basketball playground the following categories comes up:
- High school basketball court, that measures 84 feet by 50 feet
- Junior high school basketball court, and it measures 74 feet by 42 feet
- NCAA, NBA, and WNBA basketball court measuring 94 feet by 50 feet.
- FIBA or Olympic basketball court, that measures 91.9 feet 49.2 feet
So How Many Laps Around a Basketball Court Makes a Mile?
We’ll consider each basketball court category differently.
High School Basketball Court
As highlighted before a high school basketball court has a length of 84 feet and a width of 50 feet. The first step is getting the distance a player covers by making going around the basketball playground once (the perimeter).
Length = 84 feet
Width = 50 feet
Perimeter = 2(length +width)
Perimeter = 2(84+50)
Perimeter = 268 feet
So one lap around the field means covering 268 feet. However, One mile equals 5280 feet.
Therefore that means the total number of laps that equals one mile is 5280/268, which gives 19.7 laps. In other words, when you complete 19.7 laps around the high school basketball court, you have traveled one mile.
Junior High School Basketball Court
The typical junior high school basketball court has a length of 74 feet and a width of 42 feet. So that means it’s slightly smaller than the high school basketball court.
Hence the perimeter of the rectangular court (one lap round the court) = 2(L +W)
Perimeter = 2(74+42) feet
Perimeter = 232 feet
That means the number of laps per minute = 5280/232
Total number of laps = 22.76
That implies, to cover a mile on a junior high school basketball court, you have to make about 22.76 laps.
NCAA, NBA, and WNBA Basketball Courts
The Size of the NCAA, NBA, and WNBA courts are the same the court measures 94 feet long and 50 feet wide.
And from the measurement, you realize that neither the high school nor the junior high school basketball court matches the NCAA, NBA, or the WNBA court.
Perimeter of NBA court = 2(L+W)
Perimeter = 2(94+50)
Perimeter= 288 feet
Hence when you go around the NBA court once you travel 288 feet.
But remember one mile is equivalent to 5280 feet
Total number of laps that makes a mile = 5280/288
That gives you 18.3 laps
To cover one mile, you have to complete a total of 18.3 laps.
FIBA or Olympic Basketball Court
A typical FIBA (international basketball federation) and Olympic basketball court measure 91.9 feet long and 49.2 feet wide. That makes the Olympic basketball court smaller than the playground used in NBA.
Like in the previous basketball courts, we begin by getting the total distance you travel in completing one lap.
Perimeter (one lap) = 2(L+W)
One lap = 2(91.9 + 49.2) feet
One lap equals covering a distance of 282.2 feet.
And 1 mile is the same as 5280 feet
So the total number of feet that makes one mile = 5280/282.2 laps
That gives 18.7 laps.
Hence when you complete 18.7 laps around the Olympic or FIBA basketball court, you have as well traveled one mile.
Other Vital Basketball Drills
Besides running around the basketball playground other useful drills include
End-to-End Run
The drill involves players running from one side of the court to the opposite side and back, several times. Timing yourself in such a drill allows you to increase your speed, agility, and even strength.
Sprints
Here the players sprint from the baseline of the court to the middle or far end of the court and back, several times. In most cases, half-court sprints require 10 such trips or 5 trips for full-court coverage.
Conclusion
Running around the basketball court is beneficial for players. It’s a healthful exercise that boosts your stamina, agility and strength. But it’s possible to over train or undertrain.
And for that reason, you need to know the total number of laps around a basketball court that makes one mile. The post thus gives you insight on how to make such a calculation.
