How to get good at basketball over the summer

Basketball on the Edge - Summer Improvement Plan for Players

Here’s a post to help you improve your game this summer.

As school let out for many of us in the past few weeks I thought it would be a great time to put together a “Summer To Do” list for basketball players. If your young player is serious about improving their game before next season here are some guidelines to follow this summer.

1. Evaluate where you are right now.

What is your current skill set? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your role on your team? Are you satisfied with that role? How can you grow your role? These are all questions you should ask yourself as you prepare to put a plan in place to get better this summer.

Evaluate yourself in the following areas.

1. Work Ethic
2. Shooting
3. Dribbling
4. Rebounding
5. Passing
6. Defense
7. Athleticism
8. Conditioning
9. Nutrition
10. Basketball I.Q.
11. Leadership
12. Team Spirit/Being a great teammate

After you have evaluated yourself you are ready to begin planning out what you need to do this summer to become the player you want to be. Make sure that your actions match your goals!

2. Make sure you are willing to work.

Notice in the self-evaluation list that work ethic is #1. Without that nothing on the rest of this list matters.

3. Plan

Based on your self-evaluation prioritize what skills you are going to work on. Continue to improve your strengths while also attacking your weaknesses. Master the fundamental skills required of any player and then zero in on what YOU need to do to maximize your basketball skill set.

Plan where and when you are going to work on individual skill development. Players today don’t spend nearly as much time alone in a gym or on a court as they used to. Make that a priority this summer, regardless of what specific skills you are working on.

Figure out where and when you are going to play some actual games. In addition to your skill work will you play in a summer league? Pick-up games? Your goal should be to have at least 3 individual skill development hours for every 1 game you play this summer. That’s not easy to do, but it takes time and dedication to be a great player.

4. Get on a strength and conditioning program.

There are great resources out there everywhere. Here is a link to some excellent Basketball Strength, Conditioning, Agility, Quickness and Warm-Up Drills.

5. Eat right.

What you put into your body determines what you can get out of it. Eating healthy helps you to reach peak athletic performance. Healthy Baller is a great resource for sports nutrition advice and guidance.

6. Get out of your comfort zone.

When you practice, you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Pushing yourself to the limits of your current ability and then beyond results in the greatest gains in skill level. Players all over the country go out to practice and go through the motions. Don’t be one of them! Go hard! I knew a kid when I was in high school who used to brag about how much he practiced, but whenever I saw him he would be shooting, then walking after his ball, dribbling lazily back to the perimeter to launch another shot. Then, he’d be talking to anyone who came in the gym or riding the exercise bike at a leisurely pace. Afterwards he’d tell me he worked on his game for 3 hours. All I could do was laugh. I was covered in sweat knowing that I put in some real work!

7. Work on your shot.

I don’t care what position you play or what kind of shooter you are today. In the summer you need to get shots up. There simply isn’t time during practice in season to get up enough shots to become a good shooter. Design a workout that gets you game shots at game speed. Check out our Online Training Videos for purposeful, specific basketball skill development drills.

8. Attend a basketball camp or skill development workout session.

Learn from different coaches, play against different players. You’ll be exposed to new drills, new ideas, and be challenged in ways you may have never considered. Learn to deal with new personalities, develop your leadership skills, be a great teammate. The more knowledge you acquire about the game the higher your basketball IQ will become.

Get these items done and by summer’s end you’ll be a much improved player!

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USA Basketball - 13 Summer Training Tips for Basketball Players

Whether you are in high school or college, the fall semester will be starting soon, with preseason team training workouts soon to follow. Hopefully you have been putting in work all summer and are prepared to make a great impression on your coaching staff upon your return to school.

This article is collection of thoughts and suggestions to make sure you maximize your workouts over the summer. For those of you in high school, most of the premier camps and AAU events will be winding down by late July; which gives you the month of August to focus on your training.

Heal Up

First and foremost, before we talk training, you must acknowledge and address any nagging injuries you may have. You don't want to ignore something little and allow it turn in to something big. Now is the ideal time to address these issues.

As a general rule, if a little rest, ice, and Advil don't do the trick, go see a doctor or physical therapist immediately. Whether you suffered a minor ankle sprain in an AAU game two months ago or you tweaked your groin at camp last week; go get a professional opinion on your condition and then follow their advice. Don't wait until school starts; do it now!

Self-Evaluation

Hopefully, sometime after your season ended or sometime at the beginning of summer, you sat down (preferably with your coach) and evaluated every aspect of your game to get an accurate feel for your strengths and weaknesses. Certainly a good portion of the evaluation should have been directed at your fundamentals; shooting, ball handling, etc. However, for this piece we will focus on the qualities of strength, explosiveness, agility, flexibility, reaction, and power.

It is important you honestly evaluate each of these components so you can better prioritize your training. Regardless of your strengths and weaknesses, I firmly believe in having a comprehensive training program and recommend you address all areas of performance on a consistent basis; but accurately knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you prioritize each component of your workout.

What to Work On

With the exception of individual differences, at this time of the year you should be putting most of your focus on increasing full body strength and power. There are numerous strength training philosophies and the goal of this article is not to ignite a debate on which is the best. However, there are several fundamental rules most quality strength and conditioning coaches will advocate:

• Work your entire body; address every muscle group from head to toe including the legs, hips, core, and upper body. Have proper muscular balance by addressing areas around each joint; ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow.
• Work your body through all three planes of motion; choose exercises that go front to back, side to side, and rotating/twisting. Go through as many angles and alternative ranges of motion as possible. For instance, there are five primary angles for an upper body pressing motion: overhead, incline, horizontal, decline, and vertical. Same angles for upper body pulling motions. You can also do lunges and step-ups through several different planes and ranges of motion (forward, backward, lateral, cross over, step behind, plus several additional angles).
• Work within an appropriate repetition range. For basketball you should work roughly between six and 15 reps. While there are certainly instances when it is appropriate to perform more or fewer reps, 6-15 is a good rule of thumb for most sets.
• Work progressively to add resistance over time and always use proper technique with every exercise.

In addition to those universally accepted fundamentals, I also offer the following recommendations:

• Give special attention to your feet; they are integral to staying injury free and maximizing performance on the court. I currently have my players do one or two (appropriate) exercises barefoot every training session. Basketball shoes are designed to be very supportive; thus they limit mobility. One of the goals of training is to improve mobility. With that said, basketball shoes are not ideal for strength and conditioning workouts. Do a set of walking lunges with no shoes on and you will see what I mean!
• Make sure you work your core thoroughly as it is the center of all movement and is actively involved in almost everything you do. I will define your core as everything from your chest to your knees; hips, glutes, low back, abs, obliques and everything in between! The day and age of lying on your back and doing crunches is over! You need to incorporate a variety of methods; throwing (and catching) medicine balls from every conceivable angle and motion, twisting with cables or power bands, static holds, etc.
• At least once a week, work your body unilaterally, meaning "one side at a time." This is especially important for your lower body; make sure you throw in exercises that must be done one leg a time like lunges and step ups. Again, try to go through a variety of different angles and motions when performing.
• When performing plyometric exercises; pay close attention to your landing technique (not just your jumping technique). Try to land with your weight evenly dispersed over your entire foot, use your entire body to absorb the impact, land "chest-over-knees-over-feet", and land "quietly" (soft landing; like a cat). Make sure your knees don't buckle in and don't land straight legged. Creating solid landing habits is important for injury prevention; especially for females in preventing ACL injuries. While I most certainly recommend incorporating some type of appropriate plyo exercise in to your workouts; don't overdo it. Limit your volume!

Other Areas of Your Training

In addition to paying close attention to gaining strength; there are several other areas you need to address:

• Flexibility and mobility: I suggest doing more of an active warm-up and dynamic stretch prior to your workout and save static stretching for afterwards. Remember, stretching is not just for the hamstrings (although that is what 90 percent of folks focus on). Make sure to do appropriate movements to improve flexibility, mobility, and posture in your shoulders, core, IT band, groin, low back, and Achilles.

• Conditioning: At this time of the year it is not imperative for you to be in great basketball shape; so don't worry about killing yourself with intense court conditioning workouts (yet). You should be getting some decent conditioning with your skill work as well as when you are playing pick-up. You can also mix in some cross training (biking, pool, Stairmaster, jump rope, etc.) to keep things fresh and fun! When you do cross train, I recommend doing interval type work as opposed to slow and steady. Go hard for 20-30 seconds and then go slow for 30-40 seconds (and repeat for 10-15 reps). While being in top notch basketball shape is not urgent, you do want to show up on day one with a high level of overall fitness. That will make getting into actual basketball game shape much easier.

• Skill work: I have always said it doesn't matter how strong or fit or explosive you are; if you can't shoot, pass, defend, rebound, or handle the ball you will never be a high level basketball player! While I (obviously) know how important the strength and conditioning portion is; training for basketball players is a means to an end, not an end itself. You must work on your fundamentals, especially shooting and ball handling, most days of the week. Repetition is not a form of punishment; it is the only way to get better! Your skill work sessions should be intense and game-like, which will not only make you a better player, but will help you get in basketball shape as well. "Social shooting" won't get you to the next level. Shooting game shots, from game spots, and game speed will!

• Nutrition: You are what you eat. If you eat bad, you will look and play bad! Most basketball players are looking to gain body weight; which means you have to take in more calories than you burn. This can be very hard to do without proper planning and discipline. For a player looking to gain weight; you should aim to gain one pound a week for the next six weeks and show up on day one with 5-10 additional pounds of muscle. This will be like putting a bigger engine in a car! You will be able to run faster, jump higher, and block out harder!

• Rest and recovery: Do not neglect the role rest and recovery plays in maximizing your performance. If you are going to be on an intense training program this August, you need to make sure you are allowing your body to recover. I suggest doing everything possible to get eight hours of sleep each night and sneak in a quick 20-30 minute power nap if possible. I also suggest taking one full day off from all intense activity per week. You can shoot some free throws and stretch on that day, but nothing too strenuous. I also recommend taking 3-4 days off right before school starts; to really give your body some extra recovery before your team's preseason workouts begin. Don't worry, you won't "lose anything" by taking those days off, I promise. Whenever possible you should ice ailing areas after every workout (usually knees and low back) as well as use foam rollers and massage.

Where and how to play basketball in summer

Briefly about everything you need to know about playing basketball in summer

Author: David Davletgareev

Summer is the perfect time to experience the best of ball games. Due to the transience of the warm season in Russia, in summer the playgrounds are full of basketball fans, which means you can always find partners to play.

Basketball courts can be found not only in courtyards, but also in many parks. Now in Russia, open areas with a rubber coating are increasingly appearing - they are less traumatic than with options with a hard asphalt surface. In addition, they are much more pleasant to play (better rebound, not so painful to fall).

Basketball 3 on 3 (one ring game) is gaining momentum. Specialized streetball grounds are already appearing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The best platform for testing your basketball skills today is the legendary Moscow “Rizhka” site, where you can play with the best streetball players in the country.

If you are new to basketball, here are some basic tips on how to behave on the field:

1. Learn to dribble. This is almost the most important skill in the game. To hone it, you will need training in dribbling (dribbling).
2. Improve your passing skill. There are 2 basic chest passes. The first is passing the ball to a teammate without bouncing off the floor. The second is a bounce pass, where you hit the floor once before passing. This pass is the hardest to intercept for defenders.
3. Upgrade your throwing skill. Throw the ball with your fingertips and practice your throw every time. Don't always make tricky throws, figure out which ones are too hard for you and focus on the easier ones. At the end of the throw, straighten your arm fully and keep your elbow above your eyes as you release the ball.
4. Practice rebounding. Rebounds at the right time can decide the outcome of a game. Your team will not earn points without possession of the ball.
5. Understand your role. Do not focus only on earning points - this is a typical beginner's mistake. Instead, focus on how you can be more helpful to the team.
6. Remember that this is a team game. Put the interests of the team ahead of your own.
7. Learn the game. You need to learn everything about your position and game strategy. The combination of strategy and technique will make you a strong player.
8. Learn all the rules. Knowing all the rules and their subtleties, you can get an advantage in many game moments.
9. Keep a low stance. Good defenders play with their knees bent, in a low stance.
10. Prepare your body. Physics is as important in basketball as technique. Train constantly.

A basketball is something without which the game will not start. His choice must be approached responsibly. To do this, you need to answer a few simple questions:

1. What surface do we play on?
2. With whom?
3. What is our budget?

Basketballs are divided into two categories: for halls and outdoor areas. A typical outdoor surface is asphalt, where any material wears off quickly and needs to be replaced. There is no point in buying an expensive leather ball - you will ruin it in a couple of weeks of playing. A rubber or synthetic ball (such as microfiber) is much better.

Synthetic leather balls are great for indoor play. These balls fit much better in the hand.

• 7 - adult balls. Their - 760 mm (circle size). These are the men's basketball teams.
• 6 - women's balls. Size - about 730 mm. They are played by women and boys under 16 years old.
• 5 - children's balls. Size - about 700 mm. These balls are recommended for children's teams up to 16 years old.
• 3 is a very small ball, its size is about 570 mm. Suitable for younger kids.

1. The ball should be inflated so that it can be pushed a little with your thumb - 3-5 millimeters. If the ball is under-inflated, then there is a risk that he descends. If, on the contrary, it is pumped over, then bumps will form on the ball, the geometry of the ball will be violated.
2. Rebound. A ball thrown from shoulder level must bounce to the waist. Less and more is not good.
3. The basketball must be round.
4. The ball must not have any breaks in the coating and no exposed cord.

Enjoy the summer season playing basketball!

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