It should hardly come as a surprise that the core elements of a basketball player’s game are also the basis of effective team or individual basketball workouts. Elements of strength, speed, and handling should be incorporated into every basketball workout regimen, regardless of season.

Working alone, an athlete can improve his game by splitting his time between speed and ball handling drills on the court, and resistance training in the weight room. Traditional speed and endurance drills like running lines on a court are beneficial to the basketball athlete, who will be in motion for the better part of every game. Adding a ball handling element to basic speed drills will better equip a player to maintain control of the ball during a quick breakaway.

Dribbling, passing, shooting, and rebounding can all be practiced at a variety of different speeds, angles, and directions, to simulate almost any possible in-game situation. Individual basketball workouts will incorporate all of these components to help an athlete prepare to work effectively with his teammates.

Individual basketball workouts should also include time in the gym, where strength training will allow him to increase overall muscle mass and strength. For a basketball player it is important to work out all of the major muscle groups—legs, arms, core, chest, shoulders, and back—to achieve optimal functioning ability. The stronger an athlete’s body, and the better developed his or her muscle memory (for basketball, this includes the ability to dribble and shoot consistently, with a minimum of mental effort), the more likely he or she is to see success on the court.

Whether the goal of your individual basketball workouts is pre-season preparation or off-season growth, the recipe for success is the same. By combining a full-body resistance training regimen with on-court drills and practice that demand explosive speed, endurance, and ball handling; you’ll be setting yourself up for success once game time rolls around.

Tags: ball handling, basketball players, basketball workout regimen, Basketball Workouts, handling, speed, strength, strength training

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 11:04 am and is filed under Basketball Workouts, basketball skills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.