Typical Basketball Training

When training for basketball there are a few key areas that you should focus on. You will need to master your agility, your endurance, and your dexterity skills. All of these will lead you to becoming a very good basketball player and they will help you enjoy the game whether you play as a professional or you simply enjoy a good pick up game in your neighborhood.

When you first begin you will want to work on your conditioning and build up your endurance and stamina. To do this you can work out in a gym to achieve your desired endurance results. You can start out doing a series of wind sprints. These are quick sprints that are done at maximum speed across the length of the gym. You will do a series of 10 of these or push yourself to exhaustion. Next you will do a series of stair climbing. Since the entire game of basketball is played on your feet and you are constantly moving and jumping you will need to be light on your feet and be able to jump very high. Stair climbing will help you to attain this desired level of jumping and endurance ability. If you have stadium seating in your gym you can simply do 3 sets of running up and down every stairway in the gym. This exercise should last about 30 minutes. To complete your endurance training you will do a series of suicides drills. For this exercise you will start at the base line and run to the closest foul line, then you will run to the 3 point line, then run to the half court line, then run to the opposing 3 point line, the opposing foul line, and finally the opposing base line. You should complete this exercise at full speed and repeat 5 times for maximum result.

To work on your agility and dexterity you can combine drills that will work on both of these skills. You should start by placing a series of cones in a straight line down the length of the gym. While dribbling the basketball you will run at full speed, weaving in and out of each cone. If you lose control of the basketball you will go back to the beginning and start all over. The next drill will be a tip drill. You will need at least 5 people to complete this drill, the lesser the number of people the more challenging the exercise. You will begin by running to the glass backboard and tipping the ball off of the glass. The person in line behind you will catch the rebound and tip it back off of the glass. The next person will do the same and you will continue this pattern for 5 minutes.