My my My my
 
 
 
 
 
 

How to get more athletic for basketball


USA Basketball - How to Improve Your Court Speed

All athletes need speed -- particularly in a sport like basketball where the first player up and down the court can mean the difference in winning or losing a game.

In the world of sports, the fastest, quickest athletes are usually the most successful. But exactly what kind of speed and quickness is best for basketball?

Many coaches may place too much emphasis on "straight-ahead" speed by, for example, focusing too much of their attention on getting their athletes to run a faster 40-yard dash. In a sport like basketball, this isn't necessarily going to be the kind of speed that's going to make for a more effective player. Seldom, if ever, does a player run baseline to baseline in a straight line, and even if they did, a fast 40-yard dash might not equate to an effectively fast basketball player.

Having fast top-end speed measured at 40 yards wouldn't necessarily make you as effective as perhaps being a bit slower in the 40, but having the quickness and explosiveness to be faster down the court (which is a shorter distance).

Most sprinting in basketball starts from moving or "rolling" positions, not a stationary one. So, some of your training should be spent with that in mind. Performing your speed training from different starting positions such as turning and sprinting from a backpedal, accelerating from a side-shuffle, or running after getting up from the floor (simulating being knocked down and having to get up and hustle down the court) translates into more "real world" training for basketball players than simply lining up at one baseline and sprinting to the other.

This doesn't mean there is no room in your training for that kind of sprinting. It may have a place in your conditioning program--to build, for example, speed endurance. But, don't confuse this type of training with working on your game speed.

Here are three tips that can help athletes plan a program designed to improve their basketball speed:

Build Strength

Before any speed work is done, an athlete must have adequate strength. Without it, you might as well be trying to get a car to go 100 miles per hour with a go-cart's engine. Studies have shown that weight training to build strength can improve running speed. We're not talking about building big muscles here. We're talking about building strong muscles that can help us produce speed.

A basic strength-building program for speed includes strengthening the legs (calves, hamstrings, and quads) with exercises such as calf raises, squats, leg curls and extensions; strengthening the upper body with exercises such as dumbbell (bench) press, seated row, shoulder raises, bicep curls, and triceps extensions; and the core muscles (abdominals and back) by using regular crunches from the floor, stability ball crunches, oblique rotations, and back extensions. These basic exercises and more can help the basketball athlete begin to develop the strength necessary to build speed.

• 5 Exercises To Improve Power

Work on Acceleration and Quickness

Acceleration is the ability to increase velocity. The key here is how quickly you can increase your speed. This is perhaps more important in basketball than raw speed, because unlike a sport like track where all the athletes take off at the same time, basketball players must be quick to recognize when they must start a sprint--such as a rebound leading to a fast break -- and then be able to accelerate quickly. In basketball, having the ability to accelerate from a stationary position or from a moving position is equally important.

Drills such as learning the proper 45-degree body position to begin acceleration, or using the proper arm action in the sprint can be helpful in this type of training. Each of these seemingly simple, but often overlooked aspects to becoming faster can help athletes improve their acceleration.

Don't Forget Deceleration

Training for speed without including deceleration training is like learning to drive a car very fast without brakes. Athletes need effective speed, and effective speed means being fast, but under control.

When a basketball player dribbles fast down the court for a breakaway lay-up, she'd better be able to effectively slow down as she approaches the basket. Otherwise, she's out of control, and will probably miss the lay-up and perhaps even get injured.

Braking or decelerating is extremely important to speed training -- perhaps the most important skill in basketball speed training. This may seem counter intuitive to some, but in order to have effective speed on the basketball court, the athlete must be able to run fast, decelerate or slow down, and reaccelerate into a sprint, cut, or jump. Slowing down properly actually aids in the athlete's ability to reaccelerate. A fast, out-of-control player is not very effective in a game. So make sure that learning proper deceleration techniques are an integral part of your speed workouts.

An extensive discussion about proper deceleration technique is complex and beyond the scope of this article. However, many experts suggest that two key components to good deceleration is in keeping nice flexed or bent knees, and in lowering the athlete's hips during deceleration--whether from a sprint or from a landing.

Always check with your physician before undertaking any exercise program such as those covered in this article.

Strength, Conditioning, and Agility for Basketball Players

The Internet's #1 Website for Basketball Camps, Resources and Learning Products

|

Member Login

Home > Player > Athletic Development

Athletic development is an important aspect of becoming a great basketball player. This includes your strength, conditioning, coordination, balance, speed, and agility.

Here are a few articles and videos to help improve your athleticism...


Injury Prevention and Warm Ups

Guide to Preventing Basketball Injuries

The 4 Sports Every Youth Player Should Participate In

Jump Rope Training Video - Prevent Injuries & Improve Athleticism In Just 3 Minutes

Dynamic Warm Up

15 Team Warm Up Drills


Increase Vertical Jump

Vertical Jump Test (How to Measure)

How to Increase Your Vertical Jump (Your Complete Step by Step Plan)

Jumping Form Tips That Will Increase Your Vertical and Prevent Injury

How to Dunk a Basketball

5 Explosive Exercises For Your Vertical Jump

How To Jump Higher

8 Best Vertical Jump Exercises

9 Important Plyometric Exercises Top Trainers Swear By


Conditioning / Cardio

Basketball Conditioning Drills & Workouts for the Individual Athlete

20 Min AT-HOME Basketball Conditioning Workout

16 Conditioning Drills for Your Team


Strength & Weight Training

Strength Training Program for Basketball: Are You Doing it Right?

7 Essential Core Exercises for Basketball Players

4 Strength & Conditioning Drills for Basketball Players

11 Upper Body Exercises for Basketball

9 Essential Leg Exercises for Basketball


Speed & Agility Drills

How To Develop An Explosive First Step

5 Best Basketball Speed Drills

6 Essential Basketball Agility Drills

Cone Grab Drill - Develop A Faster First Step

Defense Reaction Drill

Lane Agility Drill

2 Advanced Drills for First Step Speed and Quickness

Chaser Drill to Increase Agility and Improve Ball Handling


Defense Improves Agility, Conditioning, and Athletic Development

One of the best things you can do is commit to become a lockdown defender!

By focusing on defense in your team practices and off-season workouts, not only will you become a more valuable player -- youll also dramatically improve your agility, coordination, and conditioning!

Playing GREAT man to man defense gets in you great shape, improves your foot speed, and improves your agility. This is a very efficient way to become a great basketball player.

Start by developing your on ball defense skills with these 6 Footwork Progressions For Elite Defenders.

Then focus on locking down your opponent in full court situations. One of the simplest and best things you can do to get in shape and improve agility is the 1 on 1 Full Court Defense Drill. And when youre in pick-up game or scrimmages, guard your player full court too.

If you have a few partners to workout out with, try the man in the hole drill... this is one of the best drills to improve your basketball conditioning!


Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to receive new drills, plays, scoring tips and coaching strategies, plus three free eBooks with over 270 pages of our favorite basketball drills and plays!

Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to receive three free eBooks with over 270 pages of content!

Basketball coaching hacks: how to score goals for beginners

Even if you are a novice basketball player, we will not give you a training plan, but we will tell you why the ball flies anywhere but into the ring and into your hands. It's all about technique: even with regular training and perseverance, novice adults and children often make simple mistakes. It's a shame, let's fix it. Below are 11 life hacks on how to hone your technique to increase the likelihood of a goal for your team.

Basketball Shot Rules for Beginners

1. Hands up

In pursuit of the attacker, raise your hands, even if you are standing with your back to the pass, and even more so if the ring is in front of you. Your raised hands will increase the chance of intercepting the ball from the opponent by 2 times. Don't overlook this little thing!

2. Make shield rolls

Even Tim Duncan did not neglect them! A square is drawn on the basketball backboard. If you are standing opposite the ring, then aim at the middle of the upper part of the square, if you are standing on the side, then at the corner. If you hit this square, then the ball is at 90% of cases will fall into the ring. The law of physics and no cheating!

3.

Look at the ring, not at the ball

Practice driving the ball with your hand, not your eyes, develop tactile control. Your eyes should be on the hoop while dribbling and be aware of the position of your body in relation to the hoop. Then you will be able to take the correct posture, and the throw will be effective.

4. Dribble with the balls of your fingers only

The palm should not touch the ball, only the pads of the fingers. Dribbling should become familiar to you, like an extension of your hand. Then you can change its trajectory at any time and you will have more chances to score goals. Practice with the ball constantly.

5. Throw with one hand

If you throw the ball with two hands, you reduce the chance of hitting the basket. All the efforts of the throw are in one hand (in the right for right-handers, in the left for left-handers). The other hand only holds the ball, the leading one holds it with the fingers, not the palm.

6.

Do not jump when protecting the ring

Jumping is the main mistake of rookie defenders. To intercept the ball and block the shot, simply stick out your hands. When you are in a jump, the attacker will easily bypass you.

7. Don't look back

When you dribble, don't look back, but dribble and aim for the ring, focus on shooting (or passing to another player on your team).

8. Bring the throw to automatism

Incorporate the most basic basketball techniques into your training plan and bring the shot to automatism. Throw first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the hoop without touching the edge.

Throw the ball with all fives and jump

Throwing Rules:

  • Head in the center of the body - if tilted, accuracy is lost.
  • Look at the ring: mentally build a trajectory. If you are far away, the ball flies in a curved curve with a maximum height of 2 meters above the hoop.
  • A strong hand is in front and throws, a weak hand is on the side and directs, only holding the ball. The elbow of the throwing hand must be in line with the ring.
  • The ball must rest on the fingers without touching the palm. The fingers are as far apart as possible and grab the ball.
  • Throwing arm bent 90 degrees, forearm perpendicular to the floor. If you bend less, then you get not a throw, but a throwing of the ball horizontally.

The main thing in the throw is the position of the body and its balance. Place your feet apart and parallel to each other: it is important to orient them in the middle of the basket. Then the direction of the body during the jump will coincide with the direction of the throw, and the ball will fly straight into the ring. When the feet are uneven, the ball flies in the wrong direction or does not reach (although the throw was normal).

Take a deep breath and release as you exhale.

How to hold the ball and shoot in basketball

How to throw correctly: straighten your arm, point your wrist up, and with your hand set the ball to rotate in the opposite direction from the flight. The ball should seem to "roll" off your fingers.

9. Copy masters and play as a team

Watch professional basketball games and try to copy the movements of your favorite players in training. And be sure to conduct game sparring - this will allow you to develop more techniques.

10. Do not throw in a straight line

The higher the arc of the ball, the greater the chance of a goal and the less chance of blocking by the opponent.

11. Do not throw the ball from a full height stand

This is the biggest newbie mistake!

Before the throw, bend your knees slightly and at the moment of the throw, straighten your body, making a jump. You need to straighten up and push off the ground at the same time. When squatting, keep the elbow of the throwing arm close to the body and towards the ring.

The jump will give momentum to the ball and will allow you not to make sudden movements with the brush.

***

And to be a long-term player, do not forget about your health: take care of your joints and muscles, use tapes, do a warm-up. And be sure to strengthen your arms, legs and shoulder girdle, develop coordination. Regular exercises on uneven bars and horizontal bars will help you with this.

Smart sport. How to captivate schoolchildren with basketball | Education | Society

Valery Spiridonov

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

5998

Shutterstock.com

Sport is one of the most important components of a healthy lifestyle. It gives you the opportunity to become stronger, faster and, finally, just happier. The Center for Patriotic Education and School Sports is constantly looking for new ways to instill in young generations a love for physical activity, but in the realities of the 21st century this becomes a very difficult task. 9 spoke about how to captivate schoolchildren with sports and the prospects for basketball0100 Sergey Mikhailov, referee of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and head of the Referee Committee of the Moscow Basketball Federation .

AiF.ru: Sergey Mikhailovich, how long has basketball been in your life?

— In fact, since childhood. In 1987, when I was 10 years old, I independently came to a sports school in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow. Since then, in various roles, I have been playing basketball, and my childhood hobby has become my profession.

— What are the benefits of basketball for children?

— Basketball is a wonderful game that develops not only physically, but also intellectually. It has long been recognized that this is a very smart sport, because during the game you have to keep a huge amount of information in your head and analyze it very quickly.

Moreover, like any team game, basketball teaches to live in a team, make friends, communicate, jointly solve tasks, empathize with teammates. In modern life, the value of basketball as a source of real communication and emotions for children and adolescents is extremely high.

How popular is basketball? What is the dynamics?

— It seems to me that everyone knows about basketball without exception. There is no person to whom you show a basketball basket, and he spreads his arms and asks: “What is this?”

In recent years, the popularity of basketball in the capital has been changing like an avalanche: there are many growth factors, and it is very important that all of them be brought together and directed to the development of sports.

For example, last year about 100 thousand children of different ages took part in competitions among schoolchildren. School basketball league "Cas-basket" this year - 539teams of boys and girls, but already now we are starting to prepare for the next season and plan to gather up to 800 school teams.

— What Moscow basketball projects help to inspire schoolchildren with sports?

— The joint work of the federation and the Department of Education is aimed at the development of all projects without exception. Among the projects, Case Basket stands out, and an important incentive is the opportunity to participate in all-Russian competitions in case of victory at the city stage. We hold many tournaments all over Russia, arrange school sports festivals, conduct seminars and master classes, and in 2015 Sochi hosted the First World Games for Young Compatriots. When children come to such large-scale events, they are charged with the atmosphere of competition, and sports become an important part of their lives.

— What are the prospects for this sport?

— The leadership of the Moscow Basketball Federation manages to find a common language with people who develop basketball in all its manifestations. Thanks to this, the Department of Education, the Student Union, the organizers of commercial and corporate competitions, and, of course, various public organizations are working to popularize everyone's favorite ball game. The prospects for such attention are the brightest.

  • Young geniuses. Who won the IV International Olympiad of Megacities? →
  • At the highest level. What is the secret of the victories of the capital's masters? →
  • S. Baidakov: “We want to make sports fashionable” →

basketball sports sections

Next article

You may also be interested in