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Some people believe that playing basketball encourages you to grow taller.

For example:

“Here’s one for the basketball players. A really good exercise that helps you grow taller is jumping! Several nerves are connected at the sole of your feet that are also connected to your thyroid and pituitary gland, which is responsible for releasing the hormones needed for your body to grow. Jumping allows for the production of electric current to flow through your body and to tell your brain “hey I wanna grow!” That’s why basketball players are very tall, they jump and reach out every day, they can’t help it but grow very very tall.”

First, it is argued that constant jumpimg is the main reason basketball increases height. The continous act of jumping increases electric flow of body current to the brain which stimulates the growth hormone resulting to increased height. Basketball is a game synonymous with constant jumping in between play.

Secondly, the constant jumping in basketball increases the flow of blood to crucial body parts such as the legs and spine. Jumping momentarily suspends the body in the air followed by compression when the person lands, this act, when done repeatedly, improves the blood flow to the growth palates found in the spine and in legs resulting to increased height. When repeated over a period of time, the results in height increase are bound to be noticable.

Is this belief scientifically supported?

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  • 3
    And just to check, are you sure that you've got the claim in the right direction? It's often noted that basketball players tend to be rather tall ("At the professional level, most male players are above 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and most women above 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)." -Wikipedia), not because basketball makes players tall, but because taller players have a major advantage over shorter players. This is like how runners tend to have leaner builds, or how wrestlers tend to have heavier builds.
    – Nat
    Commented Oct 9, 2017 at 7:34
  • 7
    I also thought the OP had got confused. But then I searched and found many, many sites making the claim. It is notable (even if each one of the sites isn't.)
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Commented Oct 9, 2017 at 7:48
  • I mean, the average basketball player IS larger than other people. Surely that can't be a coincidence. </sarcasm>
    – Mara
    Commented Oct 9, 2017 at 13:06
  • 6
    Gymnasts also do constant jumping yet they are usually small in stature.
    – Eric S
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 23:27
  • 1
    This sounds a lot like "neo-lamarkism".
    – user41580
    Commented Feb 28, 2018 at 15:53

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