Calories burned during a basketball game?!?!?

Ok so I play high school and AAU basketball year round and anyone else who has played in both a high school league and in an AAU program knows that there is a MAJOR difference in the style of play. AAU games are usually much more fast paced, more scoring, and the refs "let you play" if you know what I mean. I have a game for my high school's team tonight. I start and I'll play the whole game which usually is about an hour and a half, BUT this includes half time and time outs, not to mention mini breaks you get when fouls are called or when someone has to shoot free throws. That being said, does anyone have a estimate of about how many calories I'll burn tonight? I'm 5 11 and about 170 pounds. Thanks!

as a highschool and aau ref, I can tell you its a lot.  However there are just too many variables to tell for sure.  All you can do is guestimate.  The length of the floor is 84 feet and its 50 ft wide.  factor in all the physical play in the middle rebounding and the squatting done while guarding another player.  About every 60 times you run the length of the court, you're running a mile.  Because of the bursting and sprinting you're burning more calories than while at a jog.  You are probably burning 200-250 cals for every mile in addition to the cals from physical play and sqatting (and sliding) mentioned earlier. 

Sorry I don't have a better answer.  They say players run an average of 3-3.5 miles per contest, depending on playing time.  If you play a lot I could easily see 1000 calories for a hard contest.

Without a heart rate monitor constantly measuring you... it's a difficult calculation to figure out.

But, what you could do is take the amount of actual game play time (4 x15 min? for 1 hr total) and then put it in as a moderate run.  This won't be super accurate but atleast it can hit the ballpark of what you are doing.

hey thanks. i ended up estimating around 750 calories since we won by 39 and i sat out the last quarter because we took out our first string. anyway we won so now were 6-1 and that's what's most important : )

thanks again for the help

Original Post by akreutzer42:

hey thanks. i ended up estimating around 750 calories since we won by 39 and i sat out the last quarter because we took out our first string. anyway we won so now were 6-1 and that's what's most important : )

thanks again for the help

OMGGGGGGGGGG !!! i serioulsly should have played bball during my high school years for more than just one year!!!!!!!!! gahhhh!!!!

I lost weight as a teen b/c I started playing ball, and then maintained at 135 (5'8) for ages with regular play. I could eat a ton, too, so that was pretty sweet!!

As an adult, I know play soccer and do a lot of trail running in summer. At my current weight (somewhere between 190 and 200), I tend to burn about 10 cals/minute of intense exercise--so for soccer, if the game is 50 minutes (and I don't play all 50, trust me, there is NO WAY, it is even more intense than bball), I burn about 500; if I'm running and hiking on trails for 60 minutes, it is 600 cals. It is the intensity that matters; if I just walk a few miles in my neighborhood, I burn about 1/2 to 2/3 as much (depending on my pace). I use a heart rate monitor, so that's how I know.

SO, if you could borrow a heart rate monitor for one game, you could figure out your average burn. Remember that b/c it is so intense, the extra burn is over the whole game, not just the actual minutes you play. Just wear the HRM for the whole game and check it when you stop. It will give you a good idea and all you really need is a decent estimate to use on a regular basis.

Good luck!