Regardless of whether you are a new or experienced baller, you should know that players have to do much more than just shoot a ball. Like any sports game, basketball has a list of essential skills that form a great player. And there is no better way to boost learning of those skills than to incorporate them into your training routine. If you take the tips you will find below seriously, it will be much easier for you to become a good baller and well-rounded player for your team.
Dribbling is the key for any player
Dribbling should be one of your main priorities, as it is required for you to move freely through the court. It is a good habit to start your basketball training by dribbling drills, as they give you a good ball feeling, which will help you further during the training.
There are plenty of dribbling exercises that are capable of moving your ball-handling progression drastically forward. Lots of attention should be given to dribbling with different heights and hands. Start with hard pounds with one hand on different levels, then do the same with the next hand. Pounding the ball hard will exhaust you quickly, but it is the goal of our training. Remember, the more tired you are, the quicker your progress will be. If you are training hard enough, you will also lose the ball sometimes, which is normal during hard training.
Once you are done with simple dribbles, you can begin nailing crossovers. A good starting point is a casual crossover in front of yourself. Remember: we do hard pounds and implement the different levels of the dribble. Further, we can start doing more fancy stuff like behind the back and between the legs crossovers. After training those, you can move to perform all of the mentioned moves, but non-static. Thus, you will need to be moving through the court during them.
The dribbling routine should not be very long and can last up to 20 minutes (that would be a tough one).
Train shot to score points in basketball
One of the few ways to score points is by shooting the ball. Even though shooting training might depend on the role you play. For example, heavy forwards rarely find themselves in the position they must shoot. But still, shooting skills can never be excessive.
You should pay major attention to the shooting form during the shooting routine. Every piece of your body has to work in compliance like a perfect mechanism. Your legs, chest, arms, fingers – all those elements must be controlled when shooting.
The routine itself should start with you making shots near the net. Throw a ball a couple of times from different sides, and don’t finish with that until you are not missing any shot. Then you can move away from the net by one step and repeat the procedure. Go further until you reach a 3-point line, as it will be your maximum. You can add variations to this training to diversify it, so it will not be boring. Thus, you can try to shoot ten balls from each point you are approaching.
The goal you are chasing during the shooting training is consistency. Each of your shots should perfectly mimic the previous one. This will allow you to score more points on average and make better shots in tough gaming situations.
Train finishing moves to have more scoring options
Just like a shot, specific positions utilize finishing moves more often. But generally, finishers should be mastered by anyone who wants to score more points during their games.
The main finisher that is accessible by players of any complexion is a layup. You can perform layups from different in-game situations with different hands to release the ball. So you will need to be creative and train as many layup variations as possible. Do all of them at least a couple of times.
Another finisher that brought tons of fame to the basketball game is a dunk. Athletic players capable of jumping high must work on their dunks as part of their routine. Dunk has many advantages above the layup as it is almost impossible to block, and if you do it correctly, it is 90% a guaranteed two points. Therefore, the only person capable of blocking your dunk is another athletic player.
If you want to dunk but cannot do it, it might be caused by several factors. The first one is height. If you are under six feet tall, jumping high enough to slam the ball would initially be hard. But even the players above six feet can struggle to make a high enough jump due to insufficient explosive strength or incorrect jumping technique. However, you can fix all of the strengths lacking and technique mistakes with the help of special training.