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How to work out for basketball
How to work out for basketball
USA Basketball - The Definitive 6-Week Guard Workout
Here is a six-week training program for a point guard or 2-guard that emphasizes first-step speed and overall strength and explosiveness. Below is the weekly schedule, followed by the specific exercises that correspond with the schedule:
Monday: Upper Body Lift No. 1 and Conditioning
Tuesday: Agilities and Lower Body Lift No. 1
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Upper Body Lift No. 2 and Conditioning
Friday: Agilities and Lower Body Lift No. 2
Strength Training
Sets: 1-2 sets per exercise
Reps: Reach muscular fatigue between 8-12 reps
Rest: Rest one or two minutes between exercises
Upper Body Workout No. 1
- Chest fly
- Bench press
- Pullover
- Pull-ups
- Lateral raise
- Shoulder press
- Rear delt raise
- Seated row
- Tricep extension
- Bicep curl
Upper Body Workout No.![]()
2
- Pulldown
- Shoulder press
- High row
- Incline press
- Seated row
- Chest press
- Low row
- Decline press
- Upright row
- Dip
Lower Body Workout No. 1
- Squats
- Leg curl
- Walking lunge
- Hip adduction (groin)
- Lower back extension
- Calf raise
- Abs
Lower Body Workout No. 2
- Leg press
- Straight Leg deadlift
- Step-ups
- Hip abduction
- Wall sit
- Calf raise
- Abs
Agility
Here are some drills that will help improve agility, quickness and reaction time.
Drills: Pick 3 drills each workout
Time: Perform each drill for 20 seconds
Reps: Perform 5 reps for each drill
Rest: Rest 60 seconds between drills
Ball Drop
Benefits: Footwork, hand quickness, eye-hand coordination
Reps: 30 seconds
Sets: 4-6
Rest: 60-90 seconds
Instructions:
- Stand arms length away from partner in defensive stance
- Partner holds tennis ball in each hand
- Sprint to ball after partner's throw
- Catch ball before second bounce
- Toss back to partner and sprint back to starting position
- React and sprint to next throw from partner
- Partner should vary distance, direction and speed of throws
Coaching Point: Your partner should vary the hand he uses on throws and constantly change-up the pattern.
For example, throw left hand, left hand, left hand and then right hand because it's much more unpredictable then throwing left hand, right hand, left hand. This forces you to react faster and improve your first-step.
Block to Block
Benefits: Lateral quickness and agility
Reps: 12-15 seconds
Sets: 4-6
Rest: 60-90 seconds
Instructions:
- Stand in lane in athletic position between the blocks
- Partners kneels at top of key behind three point line with two basketballs
- Partner rolls one ball to either block
- Defensive slide to block, tap ball back to partner, slide back to starting position
- React to next roll and repeat
Coaching Point: Don't ever cross your feet and make sure to stay low with your chest up and your hands up and active. You have to stay low to the ground so you can reach the ball and tap it back to your partner.
Your hands should be in front and active like they are in a game so you can catch a pass or grab a rebound. If your hands are in by your sides you can't do these things in a game and you can't perform this drill. And most importantly, work hard. Your intensity of effort during this drill is crucial.
Star Drill
Benefits: Reaction and short burst quickness
Reps: 15 seconds
Sets: 4-6
Rest: 60-90 seconds
Instructions:
- Place five cones around three point line
- Perform athletic movement such as backboard taps, or defensive slides from block to block
- When partner calls number of cone, sprint to cone and sprint back to starting spot
- Continue performing original movement
- React to partner's next call and sprint to and from cone
- Repeat
Coaching Point: Adjust the drill by sprinting to the cone as if you are closing out on a shooter.
Chop your feet as you get close to the cone, get low and keep a hand up to put a hand in the imaginary shooters face. Then sprint back to the start. You can also change the movement pattern used such as sprinting to the cone and then backpedaling back to the start. Each different movement helps work another part of your game.
Highest Point
Benefits: Focus and explosiveness
Reps: 1 jump
Sets: 10-12
Rest: 5-10 seconds
Instructions:
- Player stands in a solid box out position as if about to rebound
- Partner tosses two (to four) different colored balls into the air (you can use painted whiffle balls, racquet balls, or tennis balls for this drill.)
- Partner calls out a color
- Player vertically jumps to catch the corresponding colored ball at its highest point
Coaching point: Player should stay in a low athletic stance and keep their hands up and active.
They should try and keep the caught ball above their shoulders once caught and return to their original stance as quickly as possible.
2 Ball Pick Up
Benefits: First step and lateral quickness
Reps: 1 sprint (plus additional ball pick-ups)
Sets: 10-12
Rest: 30-60 seconds
Instructions:
- Player faces forward and assumes a push-up position (with partner behind)
- Partner rolls tennis balls (in the direction the player is facing) one at a time (with about a one second delay in between rolls) at varying angles and speeds
- Player sprints to the first ball, picks it up and turns around (to face partner), assumes a defensive stance and then slides laterally to pick up the second oncoming ball
Coaching point: Player should spring to his/her feet as quickly as possible and sprint directly towards the first ball rolled. They should pick it up with the closest hand and turn to survey the next ball.
Color Match Up
Benefits: Concentration and agility
Reps: 1 series of match ups
Sets: 6-8
Rest: 15-30 seconds
Instructions:
- Four different colored cones (red, blue, green, and yellow) are arranged in a square about 5-10 yards apart
- A non-matching colored ball is placed on each cone (red ball with yellow cone, green ball with blue cone, etc.). You can use painted whiffle balls, racquet balls, or tennis balls for this drill.
- The player is placed in the middle of the square with eyes closed
- Partner says "Go" and tosses the player a 5th ball (any color)
- Player opens his/her eyes, catches the colored ball, and sprints to the same color cone
- Player then takes the colored ball from that cone and sprints to the same color cone, etc.
- Continue until all of the colored balls match the colored cones
Coaching point: Players should stay low and in an athletic stance and use short choppy steps to close out to the cone.
To make competitive see who can match up the correct balls and cones the quickest.
Conditioning
The primary goal of your conditioning program should be to get in peak basketball shape. There is a huge difference between being fit and being in basketball shape. Being able to run three miles is great for cross-country but not necessarily for basketball. Basketball is a game of starting and stopping and jumping with varying bouts of very high intensity activity. Your conditioning workouts should mimic this. You should aim for each workout to incorporate drills that include sprinting, cutting, back pedaling, defensive sliding, and jumping. The more game-like the drill, the better. You must go all out every rep of every drill in every workout to truly reach your conditioning potential.
There are two reasons why you should participate in a comprehensive conditioning program; the first is for injury prevention. It is important acclimate your body's muscles and joint structures through the specific motions used in basketball.
If your conditioning program only incorporates straight-ahead sprinting (a typical track workout), you will not sufficiently prepare the hip, groin, and ankle areas, all of which are high-risk areas for basketball players. The second reason you need to condition is for performance enhancement. A proper conditioning program establishes a solid fitness foundation and will reduce your mental and physical fatigue toward the end of a game.
A good portion of every game is played in a defensive stance and thus a well-designed conditioning workout should reflect this. You must be trained to stay in, and move from, a solid defensive position for several minutes at a time. Sprints are only a part of the overall program. To get into great basketball shape, your conditioning program must be:
Energy system specific. Your conditioning drills need to be short to medium in duration (15 seconds to two minutes) and very intense with limited rest.
Movement specific. Utilize basketball movement patterns: sprinting, back pedaling, defensive sliding, and jumping (limit jumping and emphasize defensive position).
Stress changing direction (agility) and the importance of being able to plant off of either foot. Emphasize being in a low and athletic stance at all times with hands up.
Progressive. You need to increase intensity, increase volume, and/or decrease rest. Your workouts should get progressively harder.
Drills: Pick 4 drills each workout
Time: Perform each drill for 45 seconds
Reps: Perform 4 reps for each drill
Rest: Rest 60 seconds between drills
Zig Zag
Start in one corner of the court. Sprint to the closest elbow, reverse pivot, and defensive slide to where mid-court and the sideline intersect. Then drop step and sprint to the next elbow, reverse pivot, and defensive slide to the corner baseline. Lastly back pedal (hands held above your head) back to the starting point. Repeat for the desired time or reps.
Full Court Z
Start in one corner of the court. Defensive slide (facing away from the court) up the sideline to mid-court, drop step, and sprint diagonally to the opposite corner (on the same baseline) from where you started.
Then back pedal (hands held above your head) to the corner of the far baseline. Then jog the baseline and begin the drill again from this corner.
Hourglass
Start in one corner of the court. Sprint diagonally across the court to the opposite corner, drop step, and defensive slide (facing the court) to the other corner. Sprint diagonally across the court to the opposite corner, drop step, and defensive slide (facing the court) back to where you started.
Up the Alley
Start at one elbow. Sprint straight ahead to the far baseline, defensive slide to the close sideline, back pedal (hands held overhead) the length of the court, and then defensive slide to the lane and repeat for desired reps or time.
12 Basketball Workout Plans for at Home and Gym
To improve your skills and become an elite player, you need to work on your skills outside of your team practices.
Those extra reps will improve your ballhandling, shooting, scoring, and playmaking.
To help, were providing you more than 12 basketball workout plans that will take your skills to the next level. But before we get to the workouts, there are 3 important lessons to apply to the workouts...
Tip 1) Practice "Consistently"
The most important key to improve your skills is... CONSISTENCY.
You need to practice consistently.
Take shooting as an example. To become a great shooter, you need to practice consistently! Players complain all the time about how they just can't put the ball in the basket, that their shot doesn't feel right, and so on. So what do many of them do? They go to the gym and shoot 1000 shots - and then don't work on their shot for another week or two.
That's like someone complaining that they are overweight, so they cut out all fast food and sugar out of their diet for a day. Then a couple weeks later they look in the mirror and realize they are still overweight so they "diet" for another day. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
To shoot the ball consistently well you have to develop the proper mechanics and muscle memory and the best way to do that is to shoot almost every day!
At very least, you should practice twice a week.
Roughly 2 days a week of practice each week will allow you to see some improvements next season.
Regardless of how many days a week you practice, the above suggestions are assuming youre taking a lot of HIGH QUALITY GAME-LIKE REPS... practicing hard and practicing smart. You could work 5 days a week but if you dont simulate what will happen in a game your improvements will be limited. You also need consistent shot mechanics to make improvements. You cant be changing your shot every couple minutes. Mechanics need to be the same (consistent)!
Tip 2) Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
To develop new skills, you need to push yourself. Get out of your comfort zone.
For example, when practicing your dribbling, if you're not making some mistakes and losing the ball, then you're not getting out of your comfort zone. And youre not learning a new skill. Youre only practicing things you can already do.
The only way to learn a new skill is to get out of your comfort zone and be willing to make mistakes.
Tip 3) Learn Fundamental Skills
When working out, its important to understand how to perform skills fundamentally correct. This is particularly true when it comes to shooting.
When you do shoot the ball, be sure you shoot the same way each time. If you are changing your technique during the workout or just because you missed a few shots, you are not getting better. You need to practice the same technique over and over -- every week, month, and year.
Check out our skills pages to learn more about developing your fundamental skills.
Ballhandling & Dribbling Workouts for at Home or the Gym
Here are a few ballhandling and footwork workouts that you can do anywhere (you just need a few feet of space). You can do the workouts at home, in your basement, in the garage, or at the gym too.
Ball Handling Workout For Beginners
Inside Out Ball Handling Workout With 13 Drills
Advanced Ball Handling Workout With Double & Triple Moves
Shooting Workouts
Here are a few shooting workouts.
Youll obviously need a hoop to shoot at for these workouts.
The following workouts are for guards and post players. All players, regardless of your position, should become great at shooting the ball!
Kevin Durant Shooting Workout
Perimeter Shooting Workout for Guards
Free Throw Shooting Workout
Advanced Shooting Workout - Make 2
Multi-purpose Workouts
Here are a few more workouts that incorporate multiple skills...
Shooting & Ball Handling Workout For Serious Players - With 17 Drills
Basketball Workout Template
Post Workout With Don Kelbick
One Up Basketball Workouts
Detailed Long Term Workouts with Day by Day Planning Programs
Here are a few skill workouts that show you exactly what to do each day for improvement. There are hundreds of workouts organized by skill level.
Progressive Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts That You Can Do Anywhere
Attack & Counter Basketball Workouts - Developed by NBA Skills Coach
Athletic Development Workouts - for Speed, Strength, Conditioning and Vertical Jump
Here are a few workouts to improve your athleticism, speed, strength, and endurance.
Strength Training Workout for Basketball Players
Basketball Conditioning Workout for the Individual Athlete
7 Essential Core Exercises for Basketball Players
10 exercises for developing attacking skills of basketball players
Hello, dear visitors of basketball-training.org.ua! Today I want to tell you about a few basic exercises, by regularly performing which you can reach the next level, becoming a really good attacking player.
Yes, many articles have already been written about this and many videos have been shot. Yes, we all know a few dozen exercises that promise to make you at least the next Michael Jordan. I will not reinvent the wheel, but will tell you about a series of exercises that just a year ago helped me a lot to improve in the attacking aspects of the game. Let's start the story.
Basketball drills
Mikan Drill
This drill gets its name from the first really big guy in the NBA, George Mikan.
Begin to perform the exercise, located on the right side of the basketball basket (a meter and a half from the ring). Take two steps to the left, parallel to the endline, and throw a half hook on the other side of the hoop using your left hand. Without letting the ball fall to the ground, pick it up and take 2 steps to the right (again parallel to the base line) and again throw the ball into the ring with a half hook using your right hand. Try to get into the rhythm and hit 10-20 in a row.
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This exercise will teach you how to attack with a weak hand and turn it into a formidable weapon. Personally, while doing this exercise, already on the second day I began to complete the passages with my left hand. And after a couple of weeks, the effectiveness of the attacks doubled: now the defender had to hold both sides, and I could always attack with the hand farthest from him.
Superman Drill
This exercise is very similar to the previous one.
Position yourself almost on the border of the three-second zone (you always want to call it a “trapeze”, but with the change in the rules of basketball, it has lost its usual shape). We perform a throw on the ring with one single difference: do not try to hit the ring! On the contrary, raise the trajectory higher so that the ball, bouncing off the backboard, falls on the other side of the ring. This is where you need to catch him, not allowing him to fall to the floor. Important: try to take no more than three steps to overcome the distance from one side of the ring to the other. Follow the rhythm: let the entire exercise be performed in the same rhythm. Do 10 to 20 repetitions of this exercise.
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Beat the Pro
Imagine that you are playing 1 on 1 against your favorite player. You just need to beat him by being the first to score 21 points. Perform game throws (with deviation, after strides, after crossovers and sudden stops).
Be clear about your opponent, how he defends against you, how he tries to cover your every throw, how he waits for the slightest mistake in order to intercept. For each roll you make, you get 1 point. For each miss, the opponent receives 2 points. When you reach 20 points (if you haven't lost before) - you need to make a "buzzer beater" and it needs to be scored. How will you do it: with an incredible deflection after a fabulous dribbling or just hitting the ball with 9meters. Try to beat the best players in your imagination. Important: be realistic when playing against Shaquille, it is foolish to push him with your back or try to shoot the ball while in close contact. Also, it would be wrong to try to overtake Rose or Jordan. In general: adequately evaluate the opponent and try to complicate your life as much as possible.
Shoot the Shot
Do you remember the good old game "Around the World"? Sometimes it is called "Points", but that's not the point.
Now we will try to add a hit percentage to this game. Also, we will add a couple of new points to it, the so-called "elbow spot".
In order to advance to the next point, you must make at least 3 out of 5 rolls. Naturally, if the level of your game (and especially your sniping skills) allows you to regularly shoot with a percentage higher than 60%, then increase the number of goals scored to 4 out of 5 from each point. Or up to 5 out of 5 from medium and 4 out of 5 from long range. Total: you have 18 points, 90 throws of which at least 54 must reach the goal. Challenge accepted?
Ball slaps and squeeze
Throw the ball up as if it had bounced off the ring after a bad throw. Jump up, grab the rebound and squeeze the ball as hard as you can with your hands. Imagine that you got this rebound with difficulty and now they are trying to knock it out from you. Immediately after the rebound, rotate the ball around the body (at different heights): around the head, back, knees and calves.
Repeat this exercise 10-20 times.
Figure 8's - with dribble and without dribble
Eight, the famous eight is back, now with dribbling. Do you remember how Petya Maravich taught us how to handle the ball? So, now we are doing the same thing, but using dribbling. For those who find it difficult to perform such dribbling - try to perform the exercise without it.
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Quick hands
This is a cool exercise that is sure to be performed at every training session for young basketball players. Starting position: one hand in front, the second - behind, the ball is between the legs. After releasing the ball, you need to change the location of the hands: if the right one was in front and the left one was behind, then now the ball needs to be grabbed with the right one from behind, and the left one in front. Diversify the exercise: both hands in front, the ball between the legs. We release the ball and catch it with our hands, but from behind.
Important: regular performance of this exercise will allow you to develop hand speed, which is very important for performing high-quality and fast feints.
How to do it: 30 seconds first option, 30 seconds second option. Write down how many times you managed to do it the first time, and then compare with the results after a week.
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Tom-Tom dribble
This movement is also familiar to many of us. Stand with your legs slightly apart so that you can easily transfer the ball between them. We start with the right hand. We transfer the ball in front of us from the right hand to the left; then from the left hand, transfer under the foot to the right hand. Now with the right hand we transfer the ball behind the back - it turns out to be in the left hand and send it back (also behind the back) to the right. This is 1 repetition. Repeat 10 times and change hands (i.e. mirror).
Drum dribble
The point is to learn how to quickly and comfortably change the pace of dribbling and its pitch.
For example, right after a screen or a run, you may find yourself kicking the ball out from behind (even though you already think your opponent is offside). The most elementary countermeasure is to sharply reduce the height of the dribbling. So, the exercise is that you need to knock the ball on the floor alternately with your right and left hand. Start from a normal static position (legs and back straight) and go down, increasing the intensity of the knocks on the floor. As soon as there is a space between your hands and the floor, a little more than a ball, begin to rise up. Make several series (for example, 5). For advanced players, try this exercise without looking at the ball, or by hitting it with 1 finger of your right hand and 1 finger of your left hand.
Summary
Here is a set of exercises I suggest you do every time you enter the court. Believe me, the results will shock you! Of course, if you are a professional player, then these exercises will be familiar to you and will be given easily.
However, who, if not you, should know about their usefulness. Join our VKontakte group: https://vk.com/uroki_basketbola - there are a lot of useful and interesting things.
And this is the end of the article, I wish you successful training and look forward to visiting this site!
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 at first from a distance of half a meter from the ring, gradually increasing it. Learn to throw the ball so that it hits the ring 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.
