How to Follow a Basketball Conditioning Program

Basketball is an exciting sport to watch--the action is fast-paced and does not stop until the final buzzer, keeping fans on the edges of their seats. To keep up with the pace, a basketball player must have a high level of endurance, as well as a good shooting average. A basketball sports conditioning program includes strength training and cardiovascular workouts, as well as ball-handling practice.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Handheld weights
• Agility ladder
• Water or sports drink
• Jump rope
• Basketball
• Stairs
• Partner or team

Follow a New Sports Conditioning Program for Basketball

1. Warm up with some basic stretches to loosen up your muscles. These may include touching your toes, as well as stretching your hamstring and groin muscles. Follow with sit-ups, push-ups and jumping jacks.

2. Follow a basketball conditioning program that includes drills for improving agility on the court. Running up and down stairs and jumping rope will improve your speed and build your leg strength. Use an agility ladder--it looks similar to a rope ladder found on a tree house--to practice footwork.

3. Increase the height of your leap with jumping exercises. Try the ball jump by putting your feet together and standing in front of your basketball. Keeping your feet together, jump over the ball for 30 seconds.

4. Improve your endurance through sprinting drills. You can do sets of sprints for a certain amount of time or distance, rest for one to two minutes and begin again. Replenish your fluids with water or a sports drink during the break.

5. Use weights to strengthen your shoulders, arms and legs. The bench press, row machine and leg curls are a few exercises that provide good training for basketball players.

6. Practice your ball-handling skills with a partner or team. Perform dribbling, passing and shooting drills to perfect your basketball game. Sacredhoops.com contains information on dribbling drills (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Try not to bounce while you are stretching. This prevents the muscles from stretching properly.
• Perform jumping and agility drills on the grass instead of the pavement or a basketball court. The softer impact will be easier on your knees and ankles.
• Strength or weight training should be done two to three times a week on alternating days, allowing your muscles recovery time between workouts. Weight training for most sports should take place either after a game or on an alternate day, preventing the overuse of the muscle groups.

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