Category: Basketball Training

Learning how to jump higher is a real challenge for many ballers. With longer legs, it is usually easier than for short ballers, but anyone can find this problematic. What’s needed is vertical jump training courses.

Fortunately, there are several courses available online that include some form of plyometric exercises that center around developing jumping skills to get higher. A few courses also include suggested weight training to add strength without bulking up much too.

In this review, we looked at the Vert Shock, Jump Manual, and BoingVERT training products to see how they differ, what they offer, and whether they provide value for money.

So, let’s dive right in

VERT SHOCK

The Vert Shock program is an 8-week charger.

There’s no lengthy 16-week or 28-week period here to get to grips with things. It’s dynamic, and fast and you need to be prepared for that. However, for any baller who wants to improve quickly, this course has a lot to recommend it.

The video-based training is split into phases: The pre-shock is before it gets intensive. It will get you moving for sure! You’ll have six days of activity out of the first several (day four is a rest day).

The Shock phase is six weeks in duration. This is where you learn the most about what exercises are important to jump higher, dunk the ball, and hang onto the rim for good measure!

Depending on the week, there are between 4 and up to 6 separate workouts to perform in a given week to get the most improvement. Some exercises will push your core, others your leg strength and some will specifically be plyometric ones for jumping performance.

In the post-shock phase, it’s an acknowledgment that the last six weeks have been hard on your body. Despite at least one day of rest per week, you’re going to feel exhausted by week 6. The muscles will ache, and they’ll be fatigued to deal with.

However, to avoid losing the gains and worse still, your body locks up, in the post-shock phase, the exercises are designed to warm up your muscles and keep your body free from injury.

Who Created the Vert Shock Training Program?

The Vert Shock program was one of the first to gain widespread interest. It was released a year before the Jump Manual (reviewed below) and considerably before BoingVERT was created.

The program was produced by Adam Folker with assistance from Justin Darlington. Darlington is known for his high jumping and dunking skills. Folker has a background playing ball at the college level and went on to become a professional baller too. Therefore, the people behind this training course are or were professional basketball players.

What’s Included in the Course?

The Vert Shock course is the major course in this area. This is why we’ve reviewed it first. Currently priced at $67, it’s more expensive than BoingVERT but cheaper than the Jump Manual.

The course includes HD-quality videos demonstrating the different exercises from each phase. This includes warm-up movements, plyometrics, and other demonstrations of correct form. A planned workout routine for each week and within each phase is provided. They’re also a few added extras for good measure too.

Strength Gains

Despite the training not being about strength gains alone, it’s quite likely that the knees and other parts of the body that suffer from athletic performance get stronger.

While the exercises and the 6 days a week routine is wearing on the body, as a result, once recovery time is included, the outcome is likely to be far better functional performance. Anyone with knee problems may find it helps support them through functional movement.

Conclusion

The Vert Shock course offers excellent value at $67.

There’s also a 60-day money-back guarantee provided for ballers who try the program and don’t get the gains they expected from it.

The Jump Manual

The Jump Manual is designed as a complete solution for people who wish to learn how to jump higher.

It includes both plyometric training to improve your jumping ability along with strength training to increase muscle mass and power to make the actual leaps into the air and land safely too.

The program is sustained over 12 weeks which makes it shorter than some vertical jump training programs like the BoingVERT Savage which includes both plyometric and bodybuilding techniques, that’s reviewed later.

Just under three months is a sustainable amount of time to see real improvements when using the training provided without it getting boring. Significantly less meaningful gains wouldn’t be believable because building muscle mass, strength, and flexibility plus jumping higher doesn’t happen overnight or in a couple of weeks. If it did, everyone could do it!

Theory Behind Flexibility, Dexterity, and Muscle Strength

At one time, people believed that strength training meant pure muscle mass. While too much muscle mass slows down an athlete and can hinder game performance, thankfully this is not the only kind.

To obtain real performance, the muscles power the body by running on the court and having the raw strength when it’s needed. However, functional strength is also required. This is the ability to take increased muscle mass and flexibility through more fluid movements using tendons and ligaments, to complete sometimes repetitive movements to deliver predictable results.

When considering the above, this is why it’s sensible with basketball to combine plyometric training techniques to be able to jump high plus weight training too. While the mechanics of the movements to enable higher jumping can be learned alone, only with strength training can the best results be achieved.

Where Does the Jump Manual Come From?

The 12-week program originally came out in 2008. However, the techniques still work as well as they did previously because body mechanics is biology which doesn’t change over time.

The manual was the brainchild of Jacob Hiller. He’s an athlete who discovered that through specific techniques to boost his jumping, he could reach 45 inches off the court with his jumping style.

He later turned it into his training program. Even years later, by looking at his Instagram account, it’s clear that he keeps in excellent shape (sporting a six-pack into his 30s with similar athletic ability as he had previously).

What Does the Jump Manual Offer?

The program is more intensive than some others. Packaging a lot into an integrated 12 weeks, only those committed to improvement should step up to the line for this training.

The focus of video training is to get each student to the point where they have the strongest foundational core and reach the limit of what their mind and their body can achieve. Each workout lasts for between 45 minutes to 90 minutes, so they’re easy to add to your daily routine.

Included in the package is a series of video training to demonstrate the type of exercises to build up to jumping higher. This is complemented by ones on different types of weight training that will support a baller in the muscle groups that matter the most to them. There’s also a provided workout regimen to follow for people who don’t know where to begin.

Helpfully, there are also some alternative exercises provided that get into the body weight area for people who don’t own weights and don’t get to the gym often enough. This reduces the startup cost for ballers without access to the best (if any) equipment but who still wish to learn to jump higher and better themselves.

The initial focus is running students through the types of exercises found to be most useful to jump higher. It requires being intentional over a few weeks to see any increases in jumping height. Many students have experienced 10 inches or greater gains over the full 12 weeks.

Muscle development techniques to teach speed and strength – not just strength alone – is included in the next training. This gives greater intention to the strength training aspect and prevents it from becoming boring because there’s a defined purpose to each movement and action taken.

Trigger training is used to enable ballers to react faster to the need to suddenly jump up or to move to a stray ball on the court faster than their peers. Bursting off a line or moving across the court with speed and purpose are taught in this stage.

The nutritional acceleration part of the training is appreciated. For people who don’t have a clue about how to provide their body with what it needs, this will be helpful. It won’t replace a dedicated book or training course specifically on sports nutrition (nor should it) but it delivers the basics well.

For people who want to see results quicker, there are also some quick hacks to get a boost sooner (this won’t replace putting in the time over the coming weeks though). Beyond the course, itself is a coaching membership program. This is enrolled every month and provides ongoing support and suggestions within a community setting.

No, every athletic program offers this type of additional support, so it’s good to see it as an option beyond the Jump Manual package itself.

The Jump Manual provides many different avenues to explore delivering faster jumps, stronger muscles, quicker movements, and significant gains overall. It won’t do the work for you, but athletes who put their attention to the right areas (which this training product covers well) should benefit greatly from their attention.

The $100 price tag (at the time of writing) along with a separate monthly membership option for coaching and more, are reasonable for what’s provided.

Coaching access is given initially for 14 days free to test out whether the membership program is worth it. There’s also a 60-day money-back guarantee provided too.

BoingVERT

BoingVERT is a vertical jump training program focused primarily on getting serious air to rise above other players in aiming for the hoop. This might be to take a clear shot at the hoop or to dunk it – whichever is your preference.

The BoingVERT program was created by Kelly Baggett and Shawn Myszka a few years ago. It has since gone through a rebranding, and re-envisioning and had additional programs and mini-training added by Shawn Myszka in 2016. This has modernized the product and made it more applicable to new audiences.

• The Trainer:- Myszka himself is highly regarded as a basketball trainer. This trust in his knowledge and as a brand extends to jump training specifically. He’s not someone who’s created a course on how to jump higher and has no experience in doing so. Quite the opposite. He’s the real deal and it shows as purchasers see as they go through the course.
• Duration of the Original Course:- The original BoingVERT training package included plyometric exercise positions over a 16-week duration. This was intended to improve flexibility to enable ballers to eventually jump higher.

This in itself is a longer duration program than other products including the ones reviewed above which is typically shorter at just a few weeks. As such, the product developers are indicating that learning to jump higher is not going to happen overnight – or even quickly – which is a departure from what other basketball trainers believe.

• Getting Your ‘Animal’ Stoked:- Animal is the rebranded original course that runs for 16 weeks.

It is intended to give ballers the ability to over roughly four months improve their jumping game. The course runs through different plyometric exercises to help get bodies used to new requirements. This compares to what players may be used to when previously playing American Football, baseball, soccer, or another sport that required their body to move in totally different ways.

The program provides very useful and applicable video demonstrations and information to help students of the course make meaningful gains in jumping height. Perhaps not quite as much as the vaunted 10.3-inch gain that is promoted on the sale page, but any improvement is a net positive, we say.

There are also BoingMinis, as they’re referred to, which are smaller modules to add additional value. These are some improvements beyond what the original course offered which is great to see.

These Minis include:

BoingMIND

Produced by Dillon Freed, the idea with this mini is to get students into the right mindset. It’s a reality that too many people purchase a course and fail to complete it. The MIND mini-course is designed to align your mind correctly so that you’ll not fall victim to this trap.

BoingSWISH

This mini focuses on pushing up your shooting accuracy. It’s been created by the folks over at BasketballBrain.com to get your mind space right for sinking more balls in the hoop. Whether we’re talking close-up shots at the hoop or distance ones, the SWISH mini is there to make the difference in your accuracy percentage.

BoingDIET

The DIET mini is looking at what you’re buying from the supermarket, preparing at home, etc. It’s a reality that many ballers are college students who don’t necessarily take care of their eating habits the way they should. Therefore, the DIET mini is an essential part to get them looking correctly at this area.

It includes some sample recipes, a list of ingredients to buy, and how to think about food nutrition properly. Some people will be tempted to skip this mini – don’t do it. Good nutrition means having enough energy to play the full game without stamina issues or needing an energy drink to survive it.

BoingBREATHE

The BREATHE mini focus on breathing and filling your lungs with clean air. Effective cardiovascular health includes breathing deeply, exhaling cleanly, and oxygenating your muscles well.

Eventually, you’ll be able to hold your breath for several minutes too – or at least, that’s the intention behind the training. This avoids getting out of breath during a game and speeds up recovery periods too.

BoingSECRETS

This mini is a small collection of extra tips that the program creators have learned over time that don’t fit neatly into the main program or other Minis. When searching for that something extra, you can dip into this part of the training program.

BoingFlex

The FLEX mini looks at the overall flexibility of the body. The creators take the perspective that it’s necessary to get your body to a state where it’s completely flexible in the muscle groups, joints, tendons, and ligaments needed to move, twist, run, stop suddenly, and jump! Not only is performing these kinds of energetic movements a repeated requirement during a game, training, and practice too, but it’s also important to avoid sustaining an injury upon landing following “going air” too.

The Savage vertical jump training program was created in 2016 to extend largely plyometrics-based training to now include weight training too.

The Savage course extended the training out to 28 weeks, from the original 16 weeks, partly because the Animal and Savage training are run consecutively not concurrently. Exercise routines run between 45 minutes to about 90 minutes for most people.

As athletes in many sporting disciplines realized the importance and indirect benefits derived from strength training, they’ve increasingly been including weight training in exercise routines.

The program creators have responded to this need by creating BoingVERT Savage, which includes the Animal content for plyometric exercises but adds weight training, bodyweight exercises, and more mini-modules too.

The result is a far more complete basketball training program that’s fit for modern sports training. The cost difference between Animal and Savage is currently only $10 making it a good deal. Presently, Animal is $17, and Savage is only $27.

The extra Minis included in BoingVERT Savage are:

BoingCORE

A strengthening mini to ensure your center is strong enough to jump high and not pull a muscle while doing so.

BoingCOLD

The COLD mini uses cold water therapeutic methodologies to boost the immune system and kick the cardiovascular system into a higher gear. You can think of it along the lines of plunging into ice-cold water for a minute – like a trainer, Tony Robbins does before a seminar – or cryotherapy treatment where people step into a below-freezing space for a limited time.

BoingDGT

The DGT or don’t get tired mini is all about exercises to build your endurance over the weeks of the training course.

BoingDESK

Is a useful training mini for people sitting at a desk all day. It’s focused on improving leg strength and functionality.

BoingSPEEDY

This training looks to boost your overall speed throughout a game of ball.

Other Options

There’s also both a Lifetime option and the BoingVERT Air Warfare version.

There are some benefits to selecting either one. Mainly it includes lifetime updates, new modules or releases in the future, and discounts on a supplement line through the Air Warfare version.

BoingVERT Conclusion:-

Unless you already have an established weight training program that is getting results without injuries, then it’s a good idea to focus on the BoingVERT Savage and not BoingVERT Animal. The Lifetime and Air Warfare packages will only hold appeal if you’re wanting to select everything available (which some people do).

Not only are there more minis included in the Savage package, but it’s far more complete for people that feel they need training in jumping and strengthening too.

While we would say that The Jump Manual is superior in their weight training information, there’s still some value here at a low price point. It may depend on your budget and which training package you can afford to pick.

In terms of duration, this is by far the longest training course offered that we’ve covered in this review. The course isn’t more comprehensive accounting for the time difference.

Therefore, it provides more time for development and improvements to occur. Whether the shorter courses are long enough to see the gains you’re looking for really depends on how fast you get better, rather than a fundamental difference in the training duration itself.

For a specific and short training course, it’s difficult to beat the Vert Shock training program. The Jump Manual does have a lot to recommend, however, it shouldn’t be discounted.

Lastly, the BoingVERT is a longer duration course for people looking for a slower-paced course that was released more recently than the others. Follow the above vertical jump training program and increase your vertical jump within 8 weeks.

Somebody got in my way when rebounding a basketball and I sprained my left ankle, it was disappointing because the moment I felt that sharp pain I realized I won’t play basketball for at least 1 week.

Methods to Heal Sprained Ankle Fast But Not with Rice

So I quickly limped home to apply some ice. I knew from earlier experience that you have to treat sprained ankle with the RICE method (rest, ice, compress, elevate)

To minimize damage to your ankle in the first hours you must elevate it and cool it with ice or a slab of frozen meat like I did. Meat is a really good cooling aid because it constantly releases cold and doesn’t get wet as ice cubes do.

Continue to ice your ankle for at least 2 days while keeping it elevated. And of course, rest as much as you can. Don’t heat your ankle now because it will increase swelling.

So on the second day, my ankle was swollen quite a bit on the lateral side and for some reason, the top of the shoot was swollen also.

The lower part of the side foot was bruised and what’s strange was all feet and fingers were bruised also. I felt impact only on the ankle so the bruises were from damaged blood vessels inside the foot I guess.

On day 3 I started using gels that reduce inflammation and swelling and improve healing faster. Those gels contain ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and some other ingredients (to name a few: Fastum gel, Deep Relief, Lioton 1000, Voltaren). Generally, just go to your drug store and ask for gel for sprain traumas.

On day 4 I felt that the in was lowering but swathe selling remained constant so I applied an ace bandage over the ankle for like 1 hour.

And that helped reduce swelling. I continued to compress my ankle on days 5 and 6 and after 1 week my foot looked normal. Now I could tell what ligaments I sprained: anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular:

My anterior talofibular ligament remained slightly swollen and painful on contact but I decided to go for an easy shootaround on day 7. Applied some taping on the ankle to reduce lateral movement.

It went well, I was doing easy jump shots for 2 hours. In the end, my foot felt tired but after getting home I saw the foot looked normal. Our expert recommends using ankle-support basketball shoes during the active oratch that help decrease ankle injuries.

My recommended treatment regimen for sprained ankle:

• Day 1 – Ice, rest, elevate
• Day2 – Ice, rest, elevate
• Day 3 – Compress, use gel, eland event (don’t compress overnight because you can block the blood supply to your feet)
• Day 4 – Compress, use gel, elevate
• Day 5 – Compress, use gel
• Day 6 and so on – continue to use gel depending on your condition, and start the hab process (walking, balancing on foot, gradually building your ankle strength to the normal level)

Food for faster healing of sprained ankle?

Like building muscles eating is very important for healing, you must supply enough high-quality food for a faster recovery process.

I used multivitamins Optimen, omega 3 salmon oil, protein shakes from On Gold 100%, and amino Xtend. I believe that good nutrition and plenty of rest contributed the most to my quite fast ankle sprain recovery.

We recommend always wearing a basketball ankle brace during the game. It looks worse than it is. On day 8 after injury, I even played in a basketball game for some defense minutes to help the team a bit. A bit risky but it felt good.

Related Post

• • Tips For Vertical Jump
  • Basketball Practice Drill

A holistic approach to basketball training is needed to provide a fully rounded system. While most coaches will start with movement and end there, more experienced professionals understand that taking the time to look at the whole athlete is necessary to get the best results.

So the question is, what is the best basketball training program which makes you professional?

A Proper Basketball Training Program Includes The Following Basis Elements:

• Mindset
• Nutrition
• Movement
• Recovery

Let’s look at each element one at a time:

Mindset

Getting the mindset right is important because, without a clear focused mind, one is distracted during the game. Whether the distraction is conscious or subconscious, it’s nonetheless present and impacts performance indirectly.

Showing No Fear

Becoming fearless with everyday improvement in all aspects of the mental game including mental toughness gets players through tough positions and difficult setbacks.

Being many points down in a game, it’s easy to give up and not play as well as one’s capable of which lets the whole team down. Instead, with mental strength and positive belief patterns, one can lift the whole team through powerful gameplay and clearer-minded determination.

Drop Complaining

Basketball players only complain when they’re not willing to put 100% effort into getting the best results. One cannot always win, but one can always give 100% to every game.

Making a complaint about being tired or “the ball didn’t bounce right” doesn’t change anything about poor performance.

Complaining about it only makes you look weak and like you’re not willing to take responsibility for improving your game. The flip side of dropping complaining is being accepted for criticism that’s constructive.

This means taking fully onboard suggestions from coaches who watch your play and know how to improve upon it.

Be a Master of the Game

Studying the play of other past greats of the game like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and more recent star players is a great way to reduce the learning time. Improving basketball IQ is all about seeing what works best and emulating that within your skillset.

In some areas, you’ll perform better with certain techniques than others, but overall adding knowledge through training programs that teach what other people have already learned makes better use of your practice time on the court.

Nutrition

Nutrition has come a long way in the last few decades. Today, we know that lean sources of protein fuel the muscles, and sufficient complex carbohydrates are the right combination for top performance.

Avoiding Fatty Foods

Staying away from empty calories like French fries and fried chicken is obvious to many, and only makes the body sluggish. Top performance isn’t possible when sabotaging oneself with food.

Five Meals a Day

Eating multiple smaller meals a day, usually, five every day is best to deliver small fuel incrementally throughout the day. Eating in this manner delivers the right level of nutrients to avoid either that lunchtime or evening bloated feeling just before a basketball match.

Water & Electrolyte Sports Drinks

Drinking plenty of water and electrolyte sports drinks is useful too. Avoid all alcohol and sugary drinks that overload the body with poisons and toxins that the liver finds difficult to flush out in small or excess amounts.

Vitamins & Minerals

A multivitamin regimen is also important to ensure you get enough of all the major vitamin groups, plus the essential minerals. Working out, practicing, and playing the game burns a lot of energy and also produces sweat.

When sweating, the body loses water, minerals, and other important nutrients through the skin. It’s important to replace these to ensure one doesn’t get a deficit that could impair game performance.

Movement

Training the body is about building up strength, increasing your mobility and agility, and producing more power and speed. We all have a certain amount of natural athleticism, but focusing on these elements improves whatever is already naturally present.

Increasing Strength

Adding bodybuilding with weight training is an excellent way to increase body strength over a few months. The core gets stronger which supports the whole body. Legs put on muscle and endurance during a game to stay strong.

Arms bulk up enough to support longer throws at a greater distance and delicate, controlled shots for the hoop at a short distance too.

Increasing your mobility and agility

Fast running drills, circuit sprints, and quick turns allow the body to get used to sharp movements and sudden changes in direction. Twisting left and right to catch balls and turning and moving emulates actions during a practice match or a full game.

Getting your legs and knees used to repeat abrupt stops and twisting and turning improves your mobility and agility. There is no shortcut to conditioning the body to handle the stress of in-game action.

Producing more power and speed

With weight coaching, more power comes through automatically. With greater power, fast speed is possible with quicker passes sent over at greater speeds.

Of course, beyond a certain point, firing a pass or going for the hoop isn’t going to work when approached too quickly.

However, taking advantage of a gap in the court to push forward quickly and unexpectedly creates new opportunities due to improved speed and the power to drive through.

Becoming the Best Player

The best players practice endlessly to improve their footwork, overall conditioning, dribbling with the ball, passes, and shooting.

Whether going for a free throw or to get the three-pointer, it comes down to being able to put yourself in the right position on the court to receive the pass, finding space to move forward, avoiding the opposing team’s players, getting to the hoop, and shooting accurately.

The best basketball players will tell you that constant and never-ending improvement through the daily practice of different aspects of regular ball play is vital to see better performance.

It doesn’t matter what area of the game you look at, putting in the time during practices and on the court is the only reliable way to produce better results.

Recovery

Recovery is an area of the game that few people take seriously. Most basketball players are young men and women who rarely seem to need rest. However, with the game being so competitive now, one has to be at the top of the game every time to win.

As legendary coach John Wooden pointed out, you must play to the best of your abilities every time. That also means allowing time for your body to rest and recover.

This is why weight trainers don’t work for the same muscle groups every day of the week and why Olympians take days off their training to recover. Without recovery, there is no success.

Observing these four key areas (Mindset, Nutrition, Movement & Recovery) all play a key role in affording the athlete the chance to perform to the best of their current abilities.

With further study of the training program and practice of what has been learned, your game will improve over time too. There are so many online basketball coaching programs available but you can go with the best coaching program which makes you a pro in the future.

Related Post

• Vertical Jump Program
• Basketball Post Drills

Playing basketball is a fun game, but it’s fast-moving and often involves leaps into the air to dunk the ball.

What gets a little forgotten about all that is the landing needs to be perfect to avoid injuring the ankle, foot, knee, or leg. So, wearing Ankle Braces for Basketball avoids this kind of injury problem.

Given the way players will aim for the hoop and twist their bodies to get the right angle for the perfect in-air shot, it often results in a twisted ankle when the foot hits the court at an odd angle.

This kind of injury regularly puts top players out of the rest of the game and several future games.

Ankle braces are products designed to support the ankle after it has been injured when playing basketball or simply out trekking and getting the foot caught on something.

Either way, it’s the same type of product needed to make sure the vulnerable ankle doesn’t twist again accidentally when putting weight on the leg with the bad ankle.

Outside of the primary ankle injuries that either end the sporting season or a potential sporting career, general ankle injuries heal up quickly when properly supported to:

1. Prevent a repeat of the injury on the same ankle
2. Let the ankle heal

The idea behind effective ankle braces for basketball is nicely padded, breathable, and use a material that’s strong enough to give ample support. Almost all products have a bilateral design to fit both the left and right foot.

The elegant appearance of the brace isn’t necessary here. The ability to stabilize the ankle and support the leg, heel, and foot, along with a flexible design to adjust the fit to avoid repeating the injury, are the features to look out for.

Here are the Top 5 Best Ankle Braces for Basketball:

ASO Ankle Stabilizer

The ASO Ankle Stabilizer from Med Spec is available in sizes from XX-Small to XXX-Large which is the widest size choice of the braces reviewed. The product offers a choice of black and white color products.

Both are fine, but the white color option will likely show indications of your activity level far sooner than the black product. The product is not only used to protect injured ankles but also to prevent them from occurring by pre-stabilizing the ankle.

The design of this product is a little unusual because it has laces in the upper foot part of the ankle support instead of using padded straps as most other products do. The intention is a basic basket-weaving approach that’s often seen in the taping-up process before athletic events and transferring that approach to ankle protection.

The half-boot uses ballistic nylon for greater strength and to be longer lasting. The Nylon straps are non-stretchable to make sure the fit is exact once the foot is inserted inside the brace and the straps fitted correctly.

The straps are adjustable without needing to take the sports shoes off first. The laces are also adjustable depending on the size of the foot that is partially supported. Lastly, the front-foot cuff uses elastic to lend more support and secures the straps and laces in place.

Above the half-boot is a padded area that the foot first slides through. It has padded straps with one wrapping to the front of the ASO Ankle Stabilizer which is secured by Velcro.

The overall appearance of the brace is low-profile to allow a socked foot to still fit inside sports shoes without difficulty.

The product is machine washable on a gentle cycle only. Do not use bleach on it. It is not advisable to use a tumble dryer on the stabilizer; air drying is best.

The stabilizer is used by more than 250 U.S. colleges including both Yale University and Princeton University, plus the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Naval Academy too. This is a significant indirect endorsement. The product is made in the USA.

McDavid 195 Ankle Braces for Basketball

The McDavid 195 Ankle Brace comes in a choice of black or tasteful gray colors. The gray color is light gray, but is unlikely to pick up many discoloration marks during use; anyone worried about this might do well to opt for the black model.

The product is available in X-Small to X-Large sizes which aren’t the largest size range for an ankle brace, but adequate for most consumers.

The stabilizer offers Level 3 protection; the greatest possible. The product is made from a combination of nylon and vinyl to protect a shell that forms around the ankle and part of the foot. A 6-strap format is used to look and feel like taping up techniques used in professional athletic competitions.

The straps are fully adjustable without requiring either removing the brace or unlacing the rest of the product. Athletes will certainly appreciate this last feature.

The elastic heel provides a give-in feel when walking. The breathable tongue is sewn into the protector to avoid it slipping out of place during athletic competition. The laces that run across the top of the foot, below the ankle, make sure a snug fit with no slippage at all.

The combination of support ststrapsitted diagonally across the top to the middle of the foot with the thick strap across the bottom of the leg ensures firm stability for the ankle.

The design is sleek and discrete. The product will wear well because it has closures that are reinforced. The low-profile ankle brace fits over a sock and inside a sports shoe without difficulties. It is also surprisingly lightweight because of its use of ballistic nylon and vinyl (both lightweight materials).

This type of ankle support is usable for the prevention of an injury by offering greater ankle support during basketball games and support for sprained ankles enough to let more games be played. A study at a major U.S. University determined that the use of the 195 Ankle Braces helped reduce sports-related injuries by 300%.

Limor Ankle Support

The LiLimornkle Support is a little different from the products already reviewed earlier in this guide. It is a slip-on ankle brace that uses an elasticized material that stretches. When the brace is slid over the foot, it needs to be stretched to fit. As such, it is sold in a single size.

The brace fits male and female feet the same and either foot. It is designed to fit any foot that has an 11.8-inch or lesser circumference measurement.

Typically, an extremely elastic product is a bit tricky to slide over the foot and ankle if it’s already been injured. Avoiding adding unwanted compression to the ankle area during the fitting process is tough to avoid.

However, the product does give both a padded leg strap and a crisscross strap across the foot too, both secured by a Velcro fitting.

The underside of the foot received padding to a lower point, quite close to the toe area than most other ankle protectors provide.

However, there is no heel support here with an open area around the heel which is intended to allow for flexible movement while the ankle remains fully supported.

For athletic performance, the uneven padding/material on the underside of the foot could interfere with the balance when running with the heel down.

With that said, shots at the hoop involve leaning forward with the heel up, so the lack of heel material is unlikely to interfere with shooting accuracy in a competitive game.

Beyond the game of basketball and ongoing ankle injuries, this brace has been designed to be breathable and wearable day-to-day. As such, it is intended for use by regular people who don’t necessarily play sports.

Medical issues like arthritis, tendonitis, and occasional ankle sprains would all no doubt benefit from using this product.

ThBreathabilitys is built into this kind of stretchy material. It is easy to wash and dry in the open air too.

McDavid 199 Lace-up Ankle Brace

The McDavid 199 Lace-up Ankle Brace is available in X-Small through to X-Large sizes. It is only made available in black color but has accented the tips of the lace pulls, and the two toe eyes closest to the toes with the orange/red color to match part of the McDavid logo.

The brace itself is a slide-in and lace-up affair with a covered heel and thick top-facing laces running from mid-way down the foot to a few centimeters above the ankle area. One certainly feels adequately supported when fitted and laced up for a snug fit.

The appearance is somewhat Converse sneakers in appearance; all one needs is their distinctive logo on the side of the product for the look to be complete.

However, this is a clue that David’s product is through and through as shown by the quality design and materials used in their ankle protector line.

The protector is formed from two layers: one is polyester, and the other is a mesh made from vinyl. The Level 3 support provides the best protection that is deemed medical grade. The product is suitable for either foot or t/ankle.

There is foot arch support that’s sewn into the brace, and the breathable tongue is also sewn into the inside to stay in the correct place.

A total of eight lace eyes on either side support thick laces that provide a complete solution for the proper level of support in different parts of the leg, ankle, heel, and upper foot. Snapped laces are replaceable with new versions too.

The profile of the product is medium (some reviewed products are slimmer), but it does give complete coverage.

The McDavid 199 Lace-up Ankle Brace for basketball with Support Stays is most likely one of the best options for serious ankle injuries where ultimate stability and the most customizable fit are the primary requirements.

For some athletes, the ability to slide into and out of an ankle brace and use simple Velcro straps is ideal.

For a lighter-weight shallower ankle brace, other options might be preferable. But when requiring the best in complete support, it is tough to recommend another product than this one.

Venom Neoprene Ankle Brace

The Venom Neoprene Ankle Brace is available in only small, medium, and large sizes (the most restrictive list of sizes in the products reviewed in this guide).

The Small size fits US shoe sizes and lower, the medium fits 7.5 to 9.5 sizes, and the large fits 10 to 13 sizes; the company suggests that people who are between their size ranges should select the next size up.

It is also only available in black color, with the black and white Venom logo easy to spot down the side of the ankle brace.

The product is intended for use with basketball, mixed martial arts, soccer, volleyball, walking, running, and other types of athletics. It also supports basic ankle strains, foot strains, and problems with tendonitis.

The primary material used is neoprene which is supportive but not known par, particularly for its breathability. The fitting is ideal for both men and women and suits either foot.

Both are lacing up and a double strap system is used to give different ways to fit the product successfully. There is elastic used to deliver greater stretch-ability and compresses down around the shape of the foot.

The Venom Neoprene Ankle Brace is a good ankle brace for basketball that will suit a wider range of people who require ankle support.

The brace is wearable over a pair of socks and inside a sports sneaker or sports boot. It also sits quite high on the leg and in so doing, supports the lowest part of the leg too.

Benefits of Ankle Braces in Basketball

The benefits of wearing an ankle brace are to support the ankle and surround the area of the lower leg. When turning an ankle when changing direction quickly during a basketball match, trekking over uneven ground, or getting a foot caught between two rocks when climbing, the ankle and foot are vulnerable.

Putting any weight on the affected leg often leads to it buckling and causing more sharp pain in the ankle in the process. Supporting the lower leg, ankle, and upper foot area is crucial to:

1. Provide supplemental support to the ankle while it’s unable to do so itself
2. Avoid re-injuring the ankle post-injury by fixing that part of the leg into place so it cannot get turned or sprained again
3. Allow the ankle ample time to heal up

The nature of a fast-paced basketball game is one of quick moved, sharp, sudden changes in direction, and jumping into the air with little thought to the later safe landing.

Certainly, making jumps in the air after an ankle has been sprained or seriously injured is difficult to prove without some degree of risk to the joint or, at least, impeding the healing process. 

However, with an upcoming game, the only way to be able to still play ball is to strap on an ankle brace for added support.

There are various types of ankle braces for basketball used by athletes in professional basketball and college-level basketball. Some use mostly straps, with occasional lacing up, to provide an adaptable fit to suit different feet and ankle sizes, and account for swelling.

A few purely use lacing up for the ultimate in adjustable fit from above the ankle to halfway down the foot.

The materials adopted by different manufacturers, including braces that qualify as Level 3 medical-grade ones, vary from product to product. Neoprene is an affordable, less breathable material.

Ballistic nylon, often used in conjunction with Vinyl, to create a protective shell, is another choice that several manufacturers prefer for its lighter weight and breathability.

Some ankle braces slip easily over the affected foot, ankle, and lower leg, and then get gently fitted by tightening laces and/or closing Velcro straps in a supportive configuration.

In other products, the material is designed to be tight initially but is stretchable over the foot; these are more difficult to slide on/off without re-injuring the affected area when the elastic is initially too tight before the material has been worn in successfully.

The durability of the product is also a concern for basketball players who have many games each season. Certainly, Ballistic nylon is a tough material that is also long-lasting. Neoprene is also a good one.

In most cases, ankle braces are machine washable at low temperatures and when air-dried but be sure to check the product label to verify that.

Conclusion

Whether being prone to injury and wanting to protect both ankles from injury, seeking to avoid re-activating an old ankle injury from years ago, or giving port for a newly sprained ankle, an ankle brace is vital to both protect the ankle and letting it heal naturally.

Without using ankle support on a turned ankle or a sprained one, there is a significant likelihood that the ankle will become injured once again resetting the healing process.

Because of this reason, ankle braces are used by medical professionals and sports physiologists working with élite sporting teams within the United States and Canada.

Research has confirmed that wearing an ankle protector is a preventive measure during sporting events and reduces the likelihood of an ankle injury by up to 300%. So even athletes who’ve not sprained their ankle playing ball recently should consider wearing one regularly on sports days.

It is also worth mentioning that this type of protector is helpful for people who play soccer, baseball, and volleyball, and walk around in other activities. Both arthritis and tendonitis benefit from added support to avoid unnecessary pain too.

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Providing basketball shooting tips to players is usually one of those few times in life when you have a captive audience – every player wants to be a shooter. And I think that’s a good thing. Shooting is one of the most important basketball skills your players can learn.

You never know what shot the defense will give you, which player will find themselves open and in position to shoot. The more of your players who know how to shoot a basketball, the more likely your team is to score.

But shooting a basketball is a bit of an art form – it takes lots of practice to get it right and keep it right, and even good shooters will lose their touch if they lose their focus – as can happen, for example, after spending the summer playing pick-up playground ball or watching too much NBA or And 1.

If your players want to consistently put points on the board, they need to shoot with good fundamentals and to do this, they need those fundamentals drilled into them constantly. Every season needs to begin with a refresher, a focus on some basics that everyone on the team needs to know.

As soon as tryouts have finished and the team is picked, start scheduling practice time for shooting fundamentals.

There is always a lot to do at the beginning of the pre-season, so you won’t have an entire practice to hand over to handing out basketball shooting tips, but a solid fifteen-minute block of time each practice will help you develop skills, as long as you teach the skills well.

Basketball Shooting Tips Fundamentals First

In the beginning, focus on Basic Shooting Fundamentals. Set players up in a semi-circle and demonstrate proper shooting form. It would be best if you have a player with good shooting form to use as an example, pointing out aspects of his basketball shooting technique as he shoots.

It is equally effective to point out problem areas that your shooter displays as well, explaining how he could fix them.

If you have players who have been playing for a while but have developed bad shooting habits – maybe they didn’t have proper training at the younger stages – then trying to change their shot overnight will likely be ineffective.

You would be better off trying to push only a few of the more important basketball shooting tips – the most essential tips a basketball shooting coach should focus on.

Then break your players up and have them run some Simple Practice Drills. These drills are not run-in-game situations, as the focus should be on developing good shooting form. As the players perform these basic drills, coaches walk around and make adjustments to players’ shots as needed.

It isn’t necessary to have them do all these drills in one practice – introduce one drill at the first practice, then another the next.

Basketball Shooting The Jump Shot

Focus on shooting fundamentals until you feel the majority of your players are getting it – there will always be a couple of players who just can’t seem to pin it down, and if you wait for everyone you’ll be teaching fundamentals for the entire season.

But once most of your players seem to be able to shoot with a decent basketball shooting technique, move on to the jump shot – most shots taken in the game will be jump shots, not set shots; now you can start to prepare players for game-like situations.

Again, start by focusing on the basics, this time on teaching solid Jump Shot Fundamentals. This is essentially an add-on to the shooting fundamentals already taught, but it needs to be done. Players can then perform the basic practice drills again, this time taking jump shots, and again the coach walks around making adjustments as needed.

This should go much quicker than teaching the fundamentals since players already have an idea of what they are doing. Soon after introducing the jump shot basics, you can introduce some more advanced Shooting Drills that will require players to shoot jump shots in situations more game-like.

From this point on, work one of these shooting drills into each practice, especially at the beginning of the pre-season, and continue to give players feedback on how they are shooting.

Remember that players need to continue to focus on good shooting form through all these drills so that proper basketball shooting technique is ingrained in their muscle memory and they automatically use good form in any shooting situation, whether alone in the schoolyard or the middle of a high-pressure playoff game.

To add to this, have players warm up before practices using the push-back shooting drill to reinforce technique – a simple warm-up that has their focus on maintaining proper shooting form no matter where they are on the court.

Basketball Shooting The Foul Shot

There is one more type of basketball shot that needs to be taught – the foul shot. This is a special shot because it is more of a mental game than anything else – if the player practices enough, a shot taken during a game will come naturally since he won’t have time to think about it.

But when shooting a foul shot, the player will be standing alone at the foul line, everyone watching, nothing happening around him – plenty of time to get nervous and forget how to shoot.

There are some Tips for Good Foul Shooting that every player should use – ways to reduce the stress and pressure of being on the line with all eyes focused on you.

And there are some Practice Drills for Foul Shooting that you should use at every practice, which will place players in pressure situations so that they get used to shooting in these conditions.

Give them the tips, have them practice at the line, and then integrate the practice drills at the end of every practice.

How to Improve Basketball Shooting?

Unless you never miss a shot when you play basketball you can improve your shooting. It is important that at whatever level you play, you are always looking to improve.

Being a good or even great shooter has a lot to do with details, and with our basketball training, we are extremely keyed in on teaching these details. If you can master the details of the shooting, you will see your shooting percentage increase.

That is why we have created a list of shooting tips that will help you improve your shooting.

Every player wants to make their shots time and time again. After all, shots are where the glory is, proper? If you want to improve your shot, then follow these 7 tips :

Seven Simple Basketball Shooting Tips:

Tip #1: Different Colored Balls Can Help Develop Your Rotation

Straightening your shot is vital. To determine where you’re going wrong, use a colored ball instead of the regular orange. This will let you see how the ball is rotating and in what direction it’s going. This feedback will help you quickly adjust and get better.

Tip #2: Forget About Doing “Kobe Shots”

• Tons of kids look up to Kobe. So it’s only natural that they try to copy his style. But this is a bad idea. Why? Because only Kobe can shoot like Kobe! So first improve your short selection.
• • Shoot as you should: one inch before you reach the top of the jump. Let Kobe shoot like Kobe, and save yourself the frustration!

  Tip #3: Don’t Make It Easy To Block Your Shot

  • Want to make it harder for your opponent to block your shot?
  • Then it would help if you were quick and competent with your delivery and make sure you shoot at least on second before you get to the peak of the jump. This will make the defense work harder to block you.

  Tip #4: Watch Games

  • Yep, here you get to watch TV to get better! and improve shooting drills.
  • Watching great players can help improve your shots. This works especially well for young players.

  Tip #5: Keep Your Fingers Under the Rim

  • When you finish with your Follow-Through, the rim should be right underneath the fingers on the hand you shoot with.
  • This is a sign that your shot has a great arc and a higher chance of going in.
  • Practice this one often, and you’ll quickly start to improve.

  Tip #6: Make Sure You’re In the Same Spot When You Land

  • If you’ve got the correct balance, you should land in the same spot after taking a shot.

  Tip #7: Document Your Shots

  • • This surprising tip can do wonders for your shot.

   

  • By filming your shots in games (and in practice), you can get a bird’s eye view of your appearance. And you can focus on improving when you see what you’re doing wrong.

Basketball Shooting Tips By Basketball Champs

Shot preparation is going to be the first area that we talk about, and it is comprised of 3 things that you should be doing as the ball comes to you. These 3 areas will help to set you up for a great shot.

• Drop your butt: For you to get a lift on your shot, you need to be low and in an athletic stance when you catch the ball.

• Show your hands: This will help give the passer a target to hit, and it will also help you with catching the ball. You want to catch the ball with your wrist cocked and in shooting position.

• Momentum to the basket: When you catch the ball you want to be stepping or hopping into your shot. This is important as you move out further from the basket.

Now that you have caught the ball the right way, we are going to talk about the shot. You have already done all the prep work, so now it is time to execute a great shot.

1. Jump straight up and down: It is important that on your shot you are staying balanced and jumping straight up and down, or slightly forward (unless it is a game situation shot where you are fading on purpose).

1. Straight up your body: As you bring the ball up, you want to bring it in a straight line up your body. This will help to eliminate variables in your shot. You want a consistent and clean shot every time.

The final part of your shot is the release and follow-through. This is important, and like all the other parts of your shot, the details matter.

1. Elbow above eye: When you shoot the ball you want to make sure that your elbow is finishing above your eye. This will show you that you are getting the right arc on the shot.
2. Snap your wrist: The snapping of the wrist allows for great backspin and touch on the shot.
3. Follow through: Even though the ball has left your hands already, you must stay on your shot until you make or miss your shot.

These are the primary shooting details that we cover regularly at Champs Hoops, and they are great for any level of shooter to work on. It is important that you not only work hard, but work smart when you are in the gym, and these tips will help you do that.

Basketball Shooting Final Reminders

Remember to always insist on good shooting form in practice.

The more they shoot properly in practice, the more their muscles will remember to do it in the game – because their brains won’t. It needs to come naturally.

And once you are past the fundamentals stage, and the basketball shooting tips start to focus on shooting under pressure, always insist that players perform all drills as in-game situations – again, if they don’t practice as if in a game situation, they won’t be able to perform in game situations.

Their muscles will act as if they’ve been conditioned, for better or worse

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I find basketball court diagrams useful to have, even when you have plays and drills laid out for you. I like to sketch, change things around on paper, and make them a little more ‘mine’ because it helps me visualize what I want to see happen in the game and practice.

Visualization is important to any basketball coach’s success – you need to see what will happen in your head before it will happen on the court. So to help with this, I’ve always considered some rather humble basketball court diagrams to be very effective basketball training aids.

Sure, some basketball software will accomplish the same final product (and maybe look a little more polished than my penciled-in scratch marks), and I usually transfer my play ideas from paper to computer once I’ve thrashed them out – always helpful if you are explaining them to players or other coaches (I use a free software tool called “Jes-Soft” – it’s been around for a long time).

But before I start tapping away at the computer I always find pencil and paper to be a good way to get the creative juices flowing. Maybe I’m just a tactile person, I don’t know.

If you tend to work like me and would prefer to visualize your plays and drills with pencil and paper, at least at the beginning, here are a few resources you will probably find useful, to help you diagram your basketball plays and perhaps change up or better understand how to run some basketball drills.

Basketball Court Diagrams Half Court and Full Court

Assuming you are diagramming options for basketball offenses or multi-step basketball drills, you would likely get a fair bit of use out of these diagrams:

These are simple, basic basketball diagrams, left blank for you to scribble on – they always help me organize my thoughts and get a much better idea of what I want to see from my team during basketball games or practices.

If you are marking out a court, or simply want to know the dimensions of courts from various leagues, check out this page on Basketball Court Dimensions.

There are more resources I use to help me visualize, organize, and simplify the game for both myself and the players.

These basketball court diagrams are probably the most basic but most useful resources for me when I am trying g get it straight in my head what my players will be doing out on the court. I’ll add more resources as I develop this page, so don’t be a stranger, keep coming back.

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In our never-ending quest to jump higher, agility ladder drills are a mainstay on our list and have been around for quite some time. In a game like a basketball, the quicker you can change direction, the better you will be both offensively and defensively.

This is why so many coaches like ladder drills – the focus is on developing quick feet and the ability to change direction quickly and explosively.

Basketball Agility Ladder Drills

Ladder drills are a great way to improve multiplanar movement, which is important for basketball players as they need to change direction quickly and often. These drills are also a good addition to any conditioning workout as they can get the heart pumping and muscles working.

But it should be noted that these drills alone are not great for speed training. Speed is the result of power exerted over a distance – quick feet will not increase power. Stronger leg muscles will – which is why so often the quickest players on the court also have the highest verticals.

If it is the speed you are looking for, get your players to increase the strength of their leg muscles – use a program such as the Jump Manual, a program specifically set up to improve players’ vertical jump but which I have always regarded primarily as a great, effective strength workout for leg muscles.

But, ladder drills are still a very worthwhile exercise to add to your workouts to improve your ability to push off in different directions and to help condition the body. They use minimal equipment – just the agility ladder – although adding some ball handling adds benefits.

Use these drills for a few minutes at the beginning of practices as a warm-up and get the blood flowing.

Left Thrust Drill

The left thrust drill relies on the left leg to do most of the work driving you along the ladder.

• Lifting your left knee high and swinging your left arm back, step into the ladder with your left foot.
• Bring your left arm high in front, thrust forward to the right, slide your right foot ahead one step, and remain inside outside the ladder.
• Lift your left knee high as your arm swings back, step, and forward one rung.
• Again, bring your left arm high in front and thrust forward to the right, sliding your right foot ahead one step outside the ladder.
• Continue the length of the ladder.
• Complete 4 lengths in total, and then move on to the right.

Right Thrust Drill

The same as above, but with the right leg doing the majority of the work.

• Lifting your right knee high and swinging your right arm back, step into the ladder with your right foot.
• Bring your right arm high in front, thrust forward to the left, sliding your left foot ahead one step, remaining ing outside the ladder.
• Lift your right knee high as your arm swings back, and step fand forward one rung.
• Bring your right arm high in front and thrust forward to the left, sliding your left foot ahead one step outside the ladder.
• Continue the length of the ladder.
• Complete 4 lengths in total.

Ladder drills are great for warming up in a sport-specific manner, and for improving footwork, agility, and coordination.

They are great for overall fitness, but in a game like a basketball that is so dependent on the change of direction and quickness, they are a great weapon in the quest to improve the skills that make a real difference in the sport.

These particular drills focus on just the basics, but many programs that focus on improving speed and quickness include agility ladder drills.

They can be an integral component to any jump training program – programs such as the Vertical Explosion program that promises six to ten inches improvement in your jumping ability in about two months.

Give it a shot, and check back for more drills like youth basketball practice drills and Basketball Dribbling Drills For Beginners.

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Basketball conditioning workouts are usually pushed during the off-season, and for good reason – the off-season, especially the long summer break, allows so much time for players to improve their conditioning and their basic basketball skills.

Since there are no regularly scheduled practices or games or school, all your players should be worrying about is having the determination to succeed and some solid basketball workouts to boost their basketball conditioning.

Youth Basketball Conditioning Workouts

Crossover dribbles, rebounding, and a consistent jumper – are all-important basketball fundamentals every player should have.

But if they can’t run the court, and can’t play for a full game, they won’t get the chance to use those fundamentals when the season starts since they’ll be too busy trying to catch up to the other team.

Every player needs to know their fundamentals, but every player needs to be in exceptional physical shape as well.

To be in complete shape, players need three things:

• Good Basic Skills
• Good Aerobic Conditioning
• Good Muscular Strength

All of these can be improved through following good routines diligently, making sure that the workouts are specific to the needs of the basketball player – e.g., workouts for aerobic conditioning are focused on the start-stop movement and sprinting that is so critical to basketball, not on distance training that will not provide much help to the player in the game.

I give out two basketball conditioning workouts that focus on developing skills during the summer, a Summer Skills Workout for Guards and a Summer Skills Workout for Inside Players.

These workouts share some of the same drills, but there are also drills in each that focus on skills specific to each position.

I also hand out basketball conditioning workouts designed to build muscular strength. Again, the off-season is the best time to develop strength, so I have an Off-Season Weight Training Program for building functional strength.

But the weight training shouldn’t end when the season begins, it should just be amended. Otherwise, all those hard-earned strength gains will be lost. So I also have an In-Season Strength Training Plan that focuses on maintaining strength during the season.

For improving aerobic fitness, I tend to rely on conditioning drills that I use in practice – running a lot of them during the first week or two of practices and then tapering off as the pre-season goes on and players’ conditioning improves.

One conditioning workout I use that could be an entire practice of its own (early in the season it would be a good thing to do as an additional practice a couple of times a week) would be the 8-8-18 workout. It takes about half an hour and is exhausting, but a really good aerobic conditioning workout.

Of course, you always have to contend with the fact that basketball is a game best played above the rim, so I also give out in the off-season a few Exercises to Increase Vertical Jump.

If you are interested in a complete program designed to increase your players’ vertical leap, then I would suggest you take a look at this excellent Jump Training Program that guarantees an increase of 10 inches in leaping ability in only 12 weeks.

Take a look at the basketball conditioning workouts above and choose the ones to fit your needs and the needs of your players. You may want to individualize the programs somewhat to suit individual players’ needs, but be careful to condition the whole player – e.g., don’t over-train some muscles and under-train others.

These workouts are what I have put together through years of trial and error and piecing together what I felt worked best from many other workouts. But I am not a certified trainer. If you have access to a trainer, even if it’s only for one or two practices, take it.

One other training factor you should consider: is speed and quickness. It is speed and quickness that basketball players need more than anything else, and while you can add specific conditioning drills to your pre-season conditioning plan, you may very well want to use a complete basketball conditioning workout for improving speed and quickness instead, which is more likely to get you the results you want.

Whatever workout program you choose, be sure that the exercises are sport-specific – i.e., focus on developing abilities important to playing basketball.

Some cross-training is a good thing, especially off-season, as it will develop muscles and athletic skills that an exercise program focused on a single sport may not.

But in the end, we want our players to excel in basketball, so the basketball conditioning workout they adhere to should improve the skills and abilities required in the game of basketball more than anything else.

Long-distance running may be good for the heart, but it won’t help you speed past a defender. keep it sport specific and watch your team improve.