Basketball Training Ideas

Athletes in a variety of sports can benefit tremendously from incorporating jumping exercises into their workout routines. The ability to increase their vertical jump can take their sport to a new level of competitiveness. The other benefit of course is a better stronger more fit body.

There are several lower body jumping exercises you can practice to build your strength while increasing your jumping ability. For the moment we’ll just focus on a few that are tried and true. These should be more than enough to get your metabolism going and a good sweat!

The Box Jump

This jumping exercise can be done practically anywhere. You really don’t need any special equipment. In fact a set of stairs will do fine. As long as you can start on a lower step or landing and then up to a higher elevated one, you can perform the box jump.

Begin with both of your feet flat on the ground facing the elevated step. You should begin first with the lower of the two steps. Come down in a squat position and then as you come up do so in an explosive manner and jump up to the next step up. Immediately step off the step after you land and repeat. Two sets of 8 repetitions.

Explosive Squats

This is an awesome exercise that will not only help you increase your vertical leap but help build really strong leg muscles. This jumping exercise is relatively easy. Begin by going down into a regular squat position. Make sure your feet are hip width apart. It’s important to maintain form. Bend your knees slightly, pull in your gut, back straight. You want to be sure you push your butt out as if you’re in a sitting position. Now push up through the heels of your feet and jump as high as you possibly can while reaching for the sky with your arms as you come up. Once you land again immediately repeat.

Double Leg Butt Kicks

Another important jumping exercise, this will strengthen your hamstring muscles. Why? Because its your hamstring muscles that give you the power you need to jump higher. To do this exercise spread your feet hip width apart. Bend your knees just a little bit. Straighten up your back. Contract your abs, now jump as high as you can. But while you’re in air, kick your butt with your heels. Try to come down to the start position on the balls of your feet and repeat again. Ideally, you want to go non-stop, for 2 sets of eight repetitions. But if you’re a little out of shape, take your time and work your way up to that level.

These jumping exercises may be challenging at first. But continue your practice and you will get stronger and your ability to jump higher will improve dramatically over time. Like anything else, if you stay consistent you’ll be stronger, fitter and your abilities will only continue to get better and better.

Being a professional basketball player, I know first hand a few things that could help you improve. When I focused on these three areas that I’m going to share with you, I was able to accomplish a lot more than I could imagine.

1st strategy: Shooting

Being a good shooter is a great way to be effective on the basketball court. In order to be a good shooter, you must have consistency to the way that you shoot the basketball. Your shooting form could be the determining factor between you being a 20% shooter or a 60% shooter. When I began to understand that, I became a better shooter.

I focused on shooting the ball the same every time. This allowed me to know what I could expect from each shot. I didn’t have to worry about if it’s going to go left this time, right the next. The strategy that I used was lining my shooting arm’s elbow directly to the goal. This assured me that I would shoot on target every time by keeping my arm straight when shooting.

With this simple strategy I only had to worry about how high and strong to shoot the ball. I eliminated one worry of direction of my shot by implementing this simple strategy. Other tips help when shooting but this was the most helpful tip. Other tips that help are arc, using your legs and squaring up. When these tips are implemented, your shot will improve.

2nd strategy: Defense

Playing defense is a great and easy way to get more playing time. Early in my career I often got very nervous during games. That resulted in difficulty in performing on the offensive end. Even though I was nervous I still wanted to play for experience and to say I played. So I had to find a way to be effective and help the team in areas besides offense.

That led to me focusing on playing great defense to help the team win. I knew that I had to contribute in some way to get playing time. That’s when I took it upon myself to guard every team’s best scorer. By me stopping the other team’s star from scoring, I was very valuable to my team.

I learned a few strategies that allowed me to be effective on defense and get me the playing time that I wanted. I seemed easy some games to shut players down. By extending one arm toward my opponent and extending the other arm towards the direction that I wanted them to go allowed me to contain them. Being lower than the offensive player is also important and that allowed me to get a lot of steals.

Watching my opponents stomach also helped me contain them. I learned that if you watch the ball or their eyes, they could trick me in the direction that they wanted to go. That led to me discovering that in order for them to move their body, their stomach had to go with them. They wouldn’t be able to advance past me without their mid section. By focusing on their mid-section I was able become a pretty good defender.

3rd strategy: Conditioning

Being in good condition was the third strategy that I used to my advantage. If you are able to run longer and faster than others, you could have an advantage. Being in good shape I was able to make opponents tired. This allowed me to get rebounds, fast breaks and easy layups just by having more energy than everyone else. This is self explanatory. If you get in great shape you’ll be a lot more effective.

I’ve shared three strategies that led to me becoming a professional basketball player in Europe. I’m sure if you focus on implementing these strategies into your game, you’ll be able to take your game to the next level. I’ve created free training videos that you can view at the link in the author box. I share the free training videos for people to really understand how to implement the strategies by visually seeing them.

These are the Power Rankings for the NBA’s best free agents available for the upcoming season. Teams are officially allowed to sign free agents on December 9th, while the NBA season will begin on December 25th.

1. Marc Gasol – Many expect the Grizzlies to match any offer that Gasol gets, however he is clearly the top player on the market and should have no problems finding teams who want to invest in a young and talented center.

2. Nene – He was undervalued during his time in Denver. He will now get the chance to see that many teams value talented big men which will make it hard for the Nuggets to keep the offensively gifted Brazilian.

3. David West – He was the Robin to Chris Paul’s Batman. CP3 looked to him often as West can shoot from anywhere on the floor and will make a solid addition to any team.

4. Jamal Crawford – He was playing behind Joe Johnson during his time in Atlanta, but has shown the ability to score points in bunches and should provide a boost to any squad looking for some outside shooting.

5. Tyson Chandler – It was no coincidence that Dallas was finally able to break through and win the NBA Championship once they found a true center. His skills came out in the Lakers series and made life very difficult for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

6. Tayshaun Prince – Prince may have become a forgotten man with the Piston’s struggles over the last few years, but the athletic lefty can still guard the opponent’s best player while providing his usual slashing/outside shooting skills.

7. Carl Landry – The former Purdue Boilermaker has worked his way into becoming a solid low post presence for NBA teams looking to add some offensive punch. He has been traded 3 times over the last 2 years, but is finally looking to cash in and become a stable force for the right team.

8. Wilson Chandler – While he is still under contract to play in China, the versatile swingman proved his worth after getting traded from New York to Denver in the Carmelo Anthony deal. He has provided constant energy on both offense and defense ever since he was drafted into the league.

9. J.J. Barea – Say what you want about the undersized guard, but the guy can score and played a key role in helping the Dallas Mavericks win their first ever NBA Championship.

10. Jason Richardson – While he is not the same player he once was in Golden State, J-Rich can still shoot the 3 and provide scoring to teams looking for a shooting guard.

11. Chuck Hayes – Never known as a flashy player, Hayes can rebound and play defense with the best of them. He was a tremendous asset for the Houston Rockets last year and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

12. Thaddeus Young – Another lefty swingman who can play both offense and defense at a high energy level. He is looking for the opportunity to become a full-time player and there are sure to be some teams willing to give him that chance.

13. Kris Humphries – Known more for his failed marriage with Kim Kardashian than his basketball skills, the former University of Minnesota product was a double-double machine down the stretch for New Jersey last season. He provides size and strength to teams looking to upgrade their front court.

14. Tracy McGrady – T-Mac showed last season that he still has something left in the tank. He is likely looking to join a championship contender and the Chicago Bulls come to mind as a potential suitor to pair with Derrick Rose in the backcourt.

15. Samuel Dalembert – Dalembert has already been linked to joining the Miami Heat as they can use a lengthy center to control the glass and block shots. He should have other suitors as well as the talented Haitian can control the paint with his defense.

16. Vince Carter – Also not the player he once was, Vince is still capable of scoring 30 points a game on any given night. He needs to find the right situation where his offensive skills will overshadow his tendency to force contested shots.

17. Shannon Brown – The former Proviso East star and Michigan State Spartan has never been known for his lack of potential. He will likely look for a chance to start, while finally escaping the shadow of Kobe Bryant. Brown has really developed his game over the last few years and should find teams willing to give him that chance.

18. Caron Butler – He was starting to find his groove again before going down with an injury last year for Dallas. Rumor is he is hoping to resign with the Mavs and should land a one year deal to help regain his value.

19. Grant Hill – The suddenly durable forward showed that he can still provide a steady presence as he did for Phoenix last year. His veteran presence is something teams will look for when handing out contracts in the next few weeks.

20. Chase Budinger – The former volleyball star really came into his own last season with the Houston Rockets. His outside shooting and athleticism will have plenty of teams looking to add him to their roster.

Recap

Southern Cal had a mediocre year in 2010-11 having a 19-15 record plus a 4th place showing inside the Pac-10 conference. In the conference tourney they advanced towards the semifinals, then proceeded to get rid of in the play-in bet on the tourney to VCU.

Southern Cal had results by becoming a fantastic defensive team. USC held their foes to under 41% in the floor shooting also to less than 64 points per game.

The loss of Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson is going to be tricky to substitute. Vucevic averaged a lot more than 17 points per game and brought down 10.3 rebounds every game. Stepheson was the group’s second best rebounder at 7.2 every night and also contributed just under 10 points.

2011-12 Overview

Kevin O’Neill continues to be the USC head coach for two seasons and has offered the enthusiasts teams that play hard and improve because the season progresses. This year’s team has a lot of contributions to replace, but O’Neill comes with Jio Fontan, Maurice Jones, and Garrett Jackson coming back. Together with a solid recruiting class the Trojans introduced transfers Aaron Fuller and Dewayne Dedmon.

Backcourt

Southern Cal is going to be heavily depending on their backcourt duo of Fontan and Jones. Fontan sat out the fall semester last season, but arrived to lead the audience in assists and finished 2nd in scoring at 10.5 points every contest.

Jones was 3rd on the team in points with 9.9 points each night, dished out 110 overall assists, and set the university record with 69 steals like a freshman. His achievements helped to receive a spot on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.

Bryon Wesley is a 6’5″ freshman perimeter player who’s expected to help round the offensive end immediately. Alexis Moore is one more freshman who ought to see some time and plays very well on each side sides from the court. Junior college transfer Greg Allen is a solid defender and can shoot 3.

Frontcourt

The Trojans 3 post players needs to be Aaron Fuller, Dewayne Dedmon, and James Blascyk. Fuller was forced to sit the 2010-11 year after transferring over from Iowa. In the sophomore season for that Hawkeyes he was honorable mention on the All-Big Ten team with 9.7 points and almost 7 boards every evening.

These players will likely be pushed in practice with a handful of transfers who can’t play this year. Ari Stewart and Eric Wise transferred from Wake Forest and UC-Irvine, respectively.