Creatine improved basketball skill tests performed during mental arithmetic
Adolescent male players performed better on combined basketball–subtraction tests with creatine than placebo. The abstract does not establish better competitive game performance.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Among adolescent male basketball players, creatine improved dribbling, passing and shooting tests performed alongside mental subtraction compared with placebo. For basketball skills tested alone, significant improvements were reported for dribbling and shooting. The abstract does not give improvement sizes or establish better game performance, longer-term effects or safety in broader populations.
This abstract-based account concerns a narrowly defined group over short supplementation periods. Effect sizes and adverse-event results were not supplied, limiting assessment of practical importance and safety.
What researchers found
Dribbling, passing and shooting during mental subtraction
Creatine versus placebo after 5 days plus a pretest dose; improvement sizes were not reported.
What combined testing meant
Players continuously subtracted numbers while dribbling, passing or shooting. This tested movement and mental processing together. The measured outcomes were these structured skill tests, rather than performance during competitive basketball games.
Interpreting the added task
Dual-task cost describes the performance penalty associated with adding a mental task. Significant reductions were reported for dribbling and passing. A significant subtraction-accuracy improvement was reported during shooting, without establishing differences in accuracy effects between tasks.
The original publication
Acute creatine supplementation enhances technical performance in adolescent basketball players under cognitive-motor dual-task condition.
Wu J, Qiu P, Li Y
J Int Soc Sports Nutr · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40758095
- Record checked
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