- June 22, 2010
- Basketball Training
Six Basketball Defense Tips: Defending the Basketball
Discover six basketball defense tips. Learn how to apply pressure and keep your opponents from scoring.
The Truth About Jumping Higher
What was it, which made Dominique Wilkins make those windmills or 360 spins so fast? Weren't you just nervous in a way, from the thought that you can't possibly do that and you though you'd give just about anything to be able to do that, so that you can impress your friends maybe with your astonishing dunks. Sounds familiar? Well here are some of the things I heard that Michael Jordan was doing to develop his vertical leap that he had at his best years of playing: He spent 2 hours a day, playing with weights on his legs. Not to mention the countless hours he spent on the court doing dunks or trying to perform dunks that he knew back then he wasn't capable of. Consider how many times he spent jumping under the rim just grabbing those rebounds.
Good Ball Handling is Important for All Basketball Players
Some players neglect developing good ball handling skills for some reason or another. Doing so will limit how good they can be.
This section of the site is dedicated to basketball training. Basketball players are incredible athletes. They are fast, agile and lean, and they also have excellent endurance and powers of recovery.
A typical NCAA Division I player can complete the 40 yard speed test in 5 seconds and can jump over 70cm in the vertical jump test making them exceptionally powerful and quick (1). It's no surprise that strength conditioning and plyometric training composes an important part of elite players' training (2). Both strength and power training has been consistently shown to improve speed, acceleration and jumping ability.
Other than strength, speed and power, basketball players must possess excellent endurance. Whereas a distance runner or cyclist requires excellent low-intensity aerobic endurance, basketball players are expected to repeat multiple high-intensity activities with minimal rest periods. Speed endurance becomes an important factor, as does the ability to tolerate a high production of blood lactate.
As you'll see in the articles below, basketball players make some very specific demands on their body. To be truly effective, your basketball training should reflect those demands.