Basketball is one of the much-loved sports in the United States, starting from its humble beginnings from Massachusetts United States, the sport is now played professionally throughout the world. All thanks to the NBA’s success at promoting the sport. 

Basketball is an endurance and velocity driven team sport; it is paramount to each team’s success that all players play their best game at every game and throughout the game.  

Basketball is a dynamic sport which engages the whole body. It is influenced by multiple techniques, quick reaction time, coordination, game IQ, power, shooting abilities, passing skills and more.  

This basketball training guide will help an athlete improve basketball skills. It includes workouts to improve basketball performance and exercises for basketball players to reach the pinnacle of their game.   

Improve basketball shooting  

Shooting skills serve as the core foundation of basketball and through hard work and dedication you will reach your intended results. Use these basic steps to improve your basketball shot. Firstly, focus on the mechanism of your shot. Keep your eyes on the target, pay attention to your stance, focus on your basketball grip and try to send the ball sailing towards its target. Cuttino Mobley – Former Houston Rockets, L.A. Clippers guard advice is that one should “Tuck your elbow and line it up with your knee, and don’t shoot at the rim, shoot up over it. Reach up, go inside the basket with your release, and follow through with your index and middle fingers”.  

How to improve quickness in basketball?   

Basketball is a fast-paced game therefore speed and agility are just as important as shooting accurately. Endurance and passing skills are vital to quicken the pace of the game. This can be achieved through regular endurance training and practising quickness drills for basketball. Part of your quickness drills would be improving your passing skills. Teams that are good at passing enjoy easy baskets and have an easier time playing offense. This is because the players can move the ball quickly and frequently until an opening is found. Once the player has the ball in his grasp, he will need to either pass it a teammate or dribble the ball up and down the court. This is where dribbling exercises would come in handy.  

Basketball leg work out  

Leg workouts are essential to your basketball workout. Basketball players will be required to do many sets of leg presses and calf raises to improve leg muscle strength required to run up and down the court. Adding ladder drills for basketball should also be a useful piece of your training arsenal. This helps improve hand -eye coordination while working on your calf muscles at the same time.  

Improve basketball IQ 

Basketball IQ is an important talent for every player to have. It comes with the ability to anticipate moves 3 times ahead and know the strengths and weakness of not only his own team but of your opponents like the back of one’s hand. One method you can use is watch and learn. Watch the best players in action and try pick up queues to their reactions to situations. For an example, what offense are they running to or what defence are they running from. To quote one of basketballs legends “"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." --Michael Jordan.  

Why do my legs hurt when I play basketball?  

After following the rigorous training routines mentioned above players may experience sore legs after basketball training.  The leg pain after basketball can be attributed to the intense strain focussed on the legs during training or during the game. During training your calf muscles are strained after many sets of leg presses, and calf raises. This leads to calf pain after basketball and will lead to swelling legs.  

How to recover after basketball? 

There are many tried and tested methods to relieve leg pain for basketball leg recovery.  

• Hydrate 

Regular hydration like drinking water after exercise can help reduce pain. Water plays a pivotal role in muscle repair and the production of glycogen. Studies have proven that muscle rejuvenation progress is decelerated by half when muscles are not suitably hydrated. Players can even drink energy drinks during game time to give them that additional burst of energy.  

• Cold compression for legs 

Applying an ice pack can relieve pain, ease swelling and inflammation of the sore muscles. Some elite athletes even employ an ice bath to reduce inflammation after a game.   

• Leg compression therapy

The most modern and easy to use device, for basketball leg recovery to ease pain and swelling is SPRYNG, a calf compression wrap. SPRYNG has also been scientifically proven and has been enjoyed by over 10,000 happy customers.  

It uses active compression technology to improve circulation and flush out lactic acid, thereby alleviating pain. SPRYNG has many advantages when compared to other active compression and leg compression devices in the market. A few of them are - 

References

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/basketball-training-guide-complete-athlete-brett-kuehn/ 

https://www.highettpodiatry.com.au/the-foot-blog/3-tips-to-improve-your-basketball-performance 

https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/basketball-training-guide/ 

https://www.usab.com/youth/news/2010/12/7tips-to-improve-your-shooting-mechanics.aspx