Basketball 3/4 Compression Pants with Low Profile Padding and Knee Support

For several decades, basketball apparel did not go beyond the team’s jersey, complete with a pair of socks and shoes. But there is more to basketball attire these days, as you will often see players donning headbands, armbands, and compression sleeves. Even more, nearly every professional and armature basketball player now wears compression pants.

The new development will not stop anytime soon. 

You are probably in a dilemma whether to follow the trend or stick to traditional basketball clothing. For the record, compression pants for basketball players lean more towards function than fashion. They come with several benefits and boost your performance, comfort, and safety during training and games.

What Are Compression Pants?

Leggings, tights, compression shorts, or compression pants are spandex-type garments that wrap tightly around your lower extremities. They are made from lightweight and highly breathable materials. These essential sports apparel come in different lengths and colors and are worn under the shorts from the waist downwards.

6 Reasons Why You Should Wear Compression Pants for Basketball

Before we highlight some of the best low-profile compression shorts, let us discuss some of the reasons why you should consider wearing leggings.

• They Keep Your Body Warm and Increase Blood Flow

An essential reason for wearing compression pants is that they keep your body warm. They do this by helping you retain heat. And with sufficient warmth around your lower extremities, you will experience an increased blood flow and more oxygen to your muscles.

Muscles require a sufficient and consistent flow of oxygen for enhanced performance. An improved blood flow will also boost your performance by promoting healthier cells and more functional internal organs.

Again, you can trust basketball tights to prevent or limit the chances of deep vein thrombosis. This is a condition characterized by blood clots in the veins as a result of poor blood flow. For many athletes, this often occurs around the thighs or legs.

Deep vein thrombosis comes with acute swelling and severe pain. Even more, severe cases of deep vein thrombosis can push clots to the lungs, block a major artery, or cause a fatality. Studies indicate that athletes can relieve these symptoms or reliably prevent deep vein thrombosis,

• They Support Muscles and Prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Basketball, soccer, football, rugby, and other contact sports come with a lot of physical activity during training and actual games. And once the extremely physical sessions end, there is a likelihood of experiencing muscle fever, commonly known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), in the medical cycles.

Notably, every athlete who undergoes intense physical training will sustain micro-tears in their muscles. While these are only minor injuries and are not life-threatening, they can prevent you from performing at your peak. You can avoid such injuries and maintain top-notch physical activity by wearing protective compression pants during training sessions and games.

Tights can considerably help to tone down muscles and speed up recovery. As a result, players who use leggings can immediately resume training sessions even after rigorous outings on the basketball court. Leggings or tights work by supporting the thigh and leg muscles and putting pressure on them to limit vibrations and oscillations. Moreover, tights also provide great comfort.

• They Prevent Injuries and Protect Ailments

Padded compression pants and low-profile padded compression pants help to hold muscles in the right place and shape. This reduces the risk of sprains, strains, and other soft tissue injuries. Choosing padded and low-profile padded models improves your safety as a basketball or any other contact sports athlete. They protect you against skin breakage and excessive pain when you fall or tumble.

Of course, basketball surfaces are hard, and the friction between the surface and your skin can cause severe burns. Compression pants with padding provide a cushion to your knees and other bony sections, making falls more bearable and less dangerous.

Ideally, this is not to imply that you are 100% free from injuries if you use padded compression shorts. Instead, they remarkably reduce the risks of sustaining ailments. Thus, as an emerging or professional basketballer, you cannot ignore the importance of padded compression pants if you want to stay fit.

• They Help to Absorb Sweat

Playing basketball involves a lot of physical activity. With a few minutes in the basketball court or training ground, perspiration will occur, resulting in a lot of sweat. While sweating is pretty normal after a few runs, it cannot be pleasant. Besides, sweating will potentially limit your movements during a game.

But since sweating is pretty biological, there is nothing much that you can do about it. The most you can do is to find a way to get rid of them once they get to the surface of your skin. And an incredible way of doing this is by donning compression pants under your basketball shorts. 

Indeed, they cannot stop you from sweating but will remarkably wick moisture out of your skin surface. These garments are lightweight and highly breathable. Moreover, apart from absorbing sweat from your body, they will also keep you cool and comfortable.

• They Are Modest and Look Good

There is more to basketball compression pants than fashion, and the above benefits justify just how these garments are good for your health, physical condition, protection against injuries, and comfort. However, you cannot ignore the fashion that tights bring into the game.

Tights come in a variety of colors and make basketball more fashionable than ever before. You can choose colors that either complement or contrast your uniform. And with a better look, you feel more confident, and you can go all out when you play.

Since basketball uniforms are pretty baggy, many new players feel insecure and too conscious about their appearance. And with that, they rarely give their all during games as they have divided attention. Basketball leggings will help you improve your modesty and enable you to concentrate on the game.

Best Low Profile Padded Compression Pants for Basketball

With the above benefits, you should consider buying functional compression pants for your basketball missions. We review the top low-profile padded compression pants for your consideration.

KXV Bracelayer Low Profile Compression Pants

Although the KXV Bracelayer Low Profile Compression Pants are famously known as perfect tights for skiing, snowboarding, spring training, and running, they make a great pick for basketball players. The KXV’s most significant selling points include extra support for the knees and hips, a highly lightweight nature, and fantastic breathability.

The pants are more extended than standard ¾ compression tights and end up just right to cover most of your lower extremities. It is a boot-cut design that terminates just under the calf and comes with non-slip cuffs. Moreover, this size ensures that they do not get into your shoes and interfere with your movements.

Special Features and Benefits

Notably, the low profile additional support on the knees and hips helps to improve your stability and balance. Besides, they help to cushion your bony prominences from hard falls and contacts. The result is that using these tights can help you prevent injuries during intensive training or games. Again, the built-in knee and hip sleeves can provide fast recovery to achy or tired knees and hips.

The additional support layers feature Bracelayer’s Tri-Tech support technology. It consists of an antibacterial Lycra base, a 1.5 mm perforated neoprene layer in the middle, and a thin medical-grade compression mesh on the outside.

The antibacterial Lycra base layer is 235 GSM-rated and helps to reduce inflammation. On the other hand, medical-grade neoprene helps keep your joints warm, minimize injury risks, and minimize joint abrasion through sustained shock absorption.

The KXV Bracelayer Low Profile Compression Pants are sleek and fit you perfectly. With the right size, you will enjoy the professional basketball look that every player devours. You will also marvel at the conformity and its ability to hold all your muscles in place.

Beyond the eye-catching appearance, they also feature immense health benefits. The entire garment will keep you warm even in the most extreme weather and physical conditions. This is thanks to the thermal Lycra base and the anti-microbial treated fabrics that keep you feeling warm, fresh, odor-free, and comfortable.

It comes in various sizes, implying that any basketball enthusiast will find a perfect one for their needs.  Notably, the minimum size is the XS compression pant that fits players with waist sizes of under 28 inches, while the largest is the XXL size for players above 44 inches. Again, the highly functional KXV has variations for both men and women.

Low Profile

Finally, there is often a debate between padded and non-padded compression parts. Well, padded compression tights have massive cushioning on the knee and hip sections. On the other hand, non-padded models are mere leggings that do not provide any additional protection and safety or proven health benefits. The KXV Bracelayer Low Profile Compression Pants lie in between the two. 

It comes with more padding around the knee and hip areas than the traditional non-padded compression pants. On the other hand, the padding is less than what you will find in most padded basketball tights, thereby eliminating the bulkiness that comes with fully padded options. The result is lightweight, breathable, comfortable, and protective compression pants.

Factors to Consider When Shopping for Compression Pants

Before we bring this conversation about compression pants to an end, let us discuss some of the factors you should look out for when shopping for the best compression pants. The following tips should help you get perfect compression pants;

• Size

Ignore all the complicated factors you have in mind first and consider the sizing of your ideal pant. Does the brand or model have the right compression tight size for you? Notably, picking the right size can be tricky. And while a compression marked L or XL should be pretty standard for all prospective wearers, it should not surprise you if you find variations from one manufacturer to another.

A compression pant that is too small will be uncomfortable and potentially cause constriction. This could affect your blood flow and overall performance. On the other hand, any basketball legging that is too tight will limit your movements. The trick is to go through the available sizes and ascertain the waist measurements for your ideal size.

• Length

Another factor that you will put an eye out for is the length of compression pants. And when it comes to length, compression pants come in two standard sizes; full-length pants and ¾ pants. Full-length models go all the way to the ankle joint. While they do not come with considerable compression and padding around the ankle joint, they keep the ankle joint warm. 

On the other hand, ¾ models reach the shin and leave sufficient space for calf-long basketball socks. These models are more popular among NBA players. Their most significant advantage is that they do not reach the shoes and will not bulge. This comes with unbeatable comfort and versatility.

• Durability

You do not want to spend money on a pair of compression pants that you will only use for a couple of weeks. It would be best if you chose models made from high-quality materials to ensure that you invest your money in a durable model.

Any compression pants made from a mixture of polyester and spandex will serve you well. Polyester gives it strength and durability, while spandex gives it the needed elasticity to hold your muscles in place. A polyester to spandex ratio of 9:1 is good enough. Nylon and spandex mixture of nearly the same ratio is equally good.

If you are an armature or professional basketballer who is yet to try out compression pants for basketball, you are doing your legs a disservice. It is time you tried them. This article is also for players already using protective basketball stockings but looking for more functional options.

Irrespective of how you look at it, the KXV Bracelayer Low Profile Compression Pants are your ideal basketball tights. They will help improve your blood flow, keep your body warm, secure your muscles, protect you against injuries, and make you look trendy.