Basketball Training Tips

Getting the most out of your training sessions is an objective of all serious basketball players who want to improve. The question is how do you do that?

1. Prepare to practice – Untold hours are wasted on the basketball court by players who do not prepare or plan to practice. Grabbing a ball and taking shots or doing a few ball handling drills does not make a workout. Before you go out on the court ask yourself theses questions:
   1. What do I want to work on?
   2. How am I going to work on these things?
   3. How long do I have to work?

Once you answer these questions, come up with a plan and write it down. Go to the court and execute the plan. Included should be the drills you will use and how long you will spend in each drill. You do not have to spend the same amount of time in each drill. If the workout is in the off-season, spend more time on areas you are weak in, if it is during the season spend more time on the things you are good at.

You can determine your workout periods based on time or repetitions.

2. Challenge yourself – It is true that success is the greatest motivator but spending a lot of time working in drills that are so simple that you can do it in your sleep will not help you. Find things that are challenging, drills that might not be successful early but you believe that you can improve on in time.

I am often telling players to include in their workouts the things that they would like to add into their games but their coach will not allow them to do. Usually, there are 2 reasons why a coach will not let players do certain things; it doesn’t fit the role the coach has given him or the player is not good at it. If you work on it and become good at it, both objections go away. If you never get good at it, other things will improve due to the work.

3. Practice at game speed – If you want to relax and take it easy, don’t work out. Workouts should not have any breaks. Use your imagination and simulate game situations. Invent competitive games. Push yourself beyond the limit of what you think you can do. All workouts have a conditioning element to them. The harder you push yourself, the better condition you will be in. In addition to skill improvement, one of the objectives to your workout should be to make the game easier. The harder you work out, the easier the game will be.