Basketball Workouts

The best sorts of basketball workouts are those that are functional, meaning that they not only improve your strength and endurance; they improve your technique. For playing defense, staying down in stance is hard work. Defense can see you reacting quickly to changes in direction when guarding the basketball, sprinting the length of the court, getting your hand out in the lane to deny a pass and then quickly changing direction to stop a backdoor cut, and standing ready in the lane to close out to your player. And this all happens nearly every possession!   This workout can be […] Read More →

In my previous post we discussed a basketball workout for jump shooting the basketball. With this next exercise, the jump shot will become a habit rather than something that requires reminding. Any shooting games can be played for this exercise, and the one mentioned in my previous post (step in/step out) works well. Around the world is also excellent. Remember BEEEF with every shot – three E’s, not two! Many people know the BEEF acronym, so adding the extra E emphasizes jump shooting. Balance – knees and hips bent, feet either equal or dominant foot slightly forward Elbow – tucked […] Read More →

This basketball workout is similar to the previous post’s shooting drill, but offers a more realistic shooting situation. One of my favorite things about this workout is it is useful for a coach in determining a player’s rough shooting range. Have the player start one foot from the basket. Have the player step out from the basket with each made shot, and step in with each missed shot. Encourage jump shots – with slow placed drills such as this, players have a tendency to static shoot, meaning that they shoot the ball with feet on the ground, similar to a […] Read More →