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Strength Training for Basketball – What Type of Training is Needed?
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All solid basketball training programs will include exercises for improving your vertical leaping strength. Even if your present jumping height is lacking, you certainly can build-up your strength for the particular muscle groups involved. Increasing your vertical jumping ability even slightly can make a big difference in a game. The really good news is there are quite a few jumping drills you can use to increase your leaping ability. You can use strength training exercises with weight for your legs. There’s an old drill that some call, box jumps, and the reason people still use them is because they work well. It is subtle, but it works, and all you do is jump up onto a sturdy box. The only way you can actually get better (jump higher) is by training hard.
When you train for basketball, you have to do a certain amount of strength training. You should train all your muscle groups, as basketball is a game where you use both your lower and upper body. Your arms as well as your legs have to be ready for all kinds of rapid and repetitive movements in this sport. Vertical jumping requires you to have strong leg muscles. In the weight room, you should do several exercises for your leg muscles, including lunges and squats. Aside from your other training, it’s a good idea to hit the gym a few times per week for all around strength training. It will not only give you an edge on the court, it makes injuries less likely. Also, see our last blog post on ‘Proper Shoe Gear To Prevent Injuries’, this is an awesome article on Shoe Gear and how often you really need to change your athletic shoes and why!
You will need to train so you have good basketball skills, and then you need to train so your body can withstand the physical demand placed on it. Practicing ball handling exercises regularly is a good way to get more comfortable and agile when it comes to handling the basketball. Train with handling the ball with “go around the world” drills, and that is simply moving the ball around your body. Yet another is moving the ball through your legs in a figure eight pattern. These are things you can practice at home with a ball, and if you work at them you’ll see that they do help.
Springbak understands you want to be a better player, but the only path to real improvement is serious basketball training. There is so much that is important including conditioning, power, coordination, and basic skills. The most important thing to remember is to Move Forward With Positive Action.
In order to make improvements in your game, you know that the right basketball training regimen is critical. There are few sports where you need to maintain such intense levels of energy for so long. If you apply the following training techniques in our prior basketball training posts, your well on your way to the scholarship you all deserve.
We have prior blogs on shooting skills, jump shot off the dribble, and shooting the 3 – Be sure to check them out!
Have fun and Rule The Net!
Article by William Crow – Former Professional Basketball Player CEO/Chairman Springbak Inc.
For more news, tips and information from Springbak:
Visit the Official Springbak® Website at www.springbak.net – Peak Performance Springsoles / Insoles – Run Faster, Jump Higher, Lessen Fatigue
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Springbak Training Tips – Proper Shoe Gear to Prevent Injuries
Posted by: | CommentsHow often do you need to replace your athletic shoes?
More often than you think, according to Utah Jazz team podiatrist Dr. Michael Lowe.
The use of proper shoe gear has a strong relationship to the performance and stability of foot function within the shoe. Those shoes which compliment foot requirements for stability, flexibility and shock absorption, can greatly aid in the dissemination of stress to foot and leg structure. The use of Springbak Springsoles in your shoes will greatly benefit all athletes for several reasons. The Springsoles have patented technology to reduce shock related injuries and give much more balance and stability to your game! This is the exact reason NCAA and pro athletes use Springbak in their programs.
The amount of stress applied to the shoe gear before replacement with a new shoe also has a profound influence upon protecting the athlete. Most runners are encouraged to replace shoe gear every 350 -500 miles depending upon the size of the runner and his or her running environment. The same should be true of the basketball player. The average runner will spend about 66 hours in running to accumulate 500 miles on a pair of shoes (8 minute per mile pace times 500 miles). The average high school or collegiate athlete will work out easily 72 hours per month. Basketball shoes are now made of the same types of materials, i.e. eva or polyurethane midsole and a harder outer sole material. These materials all have a fatigue factor which greatly influences function of foot and stress delivered to bone and soft tissue structures.
Players in the NBA will rarely use a basketball shoe for longer than 7-10 days before replacing it with a new pair of shoes (expensive). Springbak understands most athletes can’t afford to replace their shoes so often, but don’t skimp on cheap shoes or replacing them as needed. Always have and rotate 2-3 pairs of basketball or running shoes if you are a competitive athlete.
A positive secondary by-product of frequent shoe change is that of a protective influence of shoe gear to foot and ankle stability to external forces. As the shoe is worn over hours of use the leather uppers slowly begin to stretch to the rotational forces applied. Also the midsole material slowly deforms or compresses to repetitive ballistic starting and stopping of play. As these external changes to the shoe continue the rotational movement of the foot within the shoe slowly increases in range of motion. Therefore it can be seen that with newer shoe usage, there will be fewer inversion injuries as compared to injuries due to the lack of support from worn and stretched shoe gear materials which lack the integrity to decelerate foot rotational movement beyond normal positioning.
The use of a high top basketball shoe is still one of the best means for protecting the ankle from inversion sprains. NBA players choose a wide variety of shoe gear styles to play in; 68% of the players utilize a high top shoe, 15% utilize a 3/4 top shoe, and only 10% will use a low top basketball shoe for regular play. Your choice will be tempered by what is available and what properly fits and your athletic budget. DON’T SKIMP HERE!
Article by William Crow – Former Professional Basketball Player and CEO Springbak, Inc.
For more news, tips and information from Springbak:
Visit the Official Springbak® Website at www.springbak.net – Peak Performance Springsoles / Insoles – Run Faster, Jump Higher, Lessen Fatigue
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/springbak
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/springbak
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Online Contest: Springbak Wants To Know Who Will Win The Super Bowl XLV
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SUPER BOWL XLV – PACKERS vs. STEELERS
CHANCE TO WIN 1 Pair of Springbak Springsoles and a Springbak T-Shirt!
QUESTION:
WHO WILL WIN SUPER BOWL XLV & BY HOW MANY POINTS?
Submit your guess by commenting below!
THIS CONTEST HAS CLOSED. NO MORE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
THANK YOU!
The person who submits the closest guess on this blog post for the question above will be the winner and he or she be notified by email. All guesses will initially be private/hidden and publicized after the game has completed.
Deadline for submissions:
Kick-Off! February 6, 2011 at 6:30PM EST
(Direct link to blog post:
https://www.springbak.net/blog/online-contest-springbak-wants-to-know-who-will-win-the-super-bowl-xlv)
Thanks for playing along and GOOD LUCK!
The Team @Springbak
https://www.springbak.net/
_____________________________________
Rule the net with Springbak!
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Basketball Tips from Springbak: Shooting The 3 – Rule The Net!
Posted by: | CommentsArticle by Bill Crow – Former Professional Basketball Player – CEO/ Chairman Springbak, Inc.
THREE POINT SHOOTING TIPS:
* A three can be taken jump shot style or jump set style.
* If moving or dribbling toward the basket, by all means take a jump shot where the basketball is released at the second best balance point, the top of the jump.
* A jump set, this is where the basketball is released as the shooter is just leaving the floor, provides the greatest balance to the shooter, as just leaving the floor is the greatest balance point.
There are many other advantages besides balance to shooting a jump set as opposed to a jump shot, they include the following:
* Greater shooting range because power is transferred into the shot from the legs.
* The release is much quicker, less chance of your shot getting blocked.
* Your balance is much better because the jump set is stationary versus a moving jump shot.
* As just stated, the maximum balance point to a shooter is when the athlete is just coming off the floor.
*The jump set can be taken right off the floor position with the shooting hand and leg forward. This driving position means the defender will have backed off some, to respect the possibility of a drive to the hoop. Thus making a quick release jump set nearly impossible to pressure.
* The jump set can easily be taken off a jab step where the shooter jabs with his pivot foot, then steps back and shoots.
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE JUMP SET
* The basketball should be high enough for the jump set to be a one upward arm motion shot, this is usually chest to chin high.
* Set the feet in a driving stance with one foot slightly forward.
* When jumping to begin the shot, jump with a bounce. A bounce is a one motion jump where the knees are bent at the same time the calves flex and pull the foot off the floor.
* A quick bounce will get the greatest ‘spring’ return from your Springbak Springsoles, as this will give them the greatest compression and thus the greatest spring.
* This spring effect coupled with your bodies increased strength(because of the Springbak’s – remember the strength, balance and stability patent Springbak has been issued)should add two to three feet to your shooting range.
* As the shooter does a quick bounce, the one arm stroke begins at the same time (see prior shooting blog for proper shooting fundamentals. When both are done at the same time, maximum power is achieved, and the defender is given no advanced warning as the shot is off before the defender can react.
* Timing on a three point shot can be practiced by holding the basketball at chest or chin level, take three bounces, and release the ball on your third bounce. The spring action on your fingers should be happening at the maximum explosion point of the legs. If this timing is achieved your legs will be providing most of your shooting range.
* Please review my prior blog post on how to get elastic whip and your fingers spring action into your shooting release. This is very important information used when I coach college and professional level athletes! Remember, Rule the Net!
* The last step is to (through constant practice) time the elasticity in your wrist and fingers with the explosive bounce in your legs. When this extremely important timing becomes coordinated, achieving your 3 point shooting range will become much easier.
** Remember, our Springbak Springsoles will help greatly in achieving that 3 point shooting range you are looking for, and your coaches are watching, believe me!
* Also, remember your arm stroke should be explosive and at at least a 60 degree angle. This 60 degree angle will maximize power transfer from the legs. This 60 degree angle of the arm will give greater arch, which helps in two ways. First, it’s harder to pressure, and you are shooting in a circle rather than an oval when the ball comes down.
Enjoy these 3 point shooting tips, as you are learning the same things I teach at the University level and to professional athletes – See you on the floor!
Bill Crow – President & CEO Springbak, Inc.
For more news, tips and information from Springbak:
Visit the Official Springbak® Website at www.springbak.net – Peak Performance Springsoles / Insoles – Run Faster, Jump Higher, Lessen Fatigue
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/springbak
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Springbak Basketball Shooting Tips: Proper Shooting Fundamentals
Posted by: | CommentsSubmitted by Professional Basketball Player & CEO Springbak, Inc. – Bill Crow
As I have mentioned in my prior blog on shooting, the key to becoming an outstanding jump shooter is to develop a tight, quick and short shooting stroke. This is the key to balance on a jump shot, as the balance point is at the apex or top of the jump. As soon as the top of the jump is reached, gravity pulls the shooter back to the floor. If you have the opportunity to watch shooting strokes of the greatest shooting scorers in basketball history (Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robinson or Michael Jordan) on You-Tube, what you will observe is a shooting stroke no more than four inches long. The question remains, how does one develop enough power to get the ball to the basket in such a short motion? The answer, elastic reaction of the tendons in the wrist and fingers.
Next question, how does one bring an elastic whipping action of the wrist and fingers into the shooting release if one does not have it to begin with?
This is the starting point. Anyone can whip off a one handed pass directly from his or her waist or chest area to someone fifteen feet away with a short, quick, explosive pushing motion coming from the shoulder. If the wrist is back and relaxed and the fingers are consciously stretched, then the basketball will come off the fingers with an elastic whipping action, back spin, speed and power will be directed to the basketball with a very short pushing stroke. Try it, anyone can do this. The Challenge mentally is to raise this short, quick passing motion 60 degrees to where this short, quick passing motion becomes a shooting stroke with the same whipping action that is accomplished so easily when passing the basketball.
I have worked with scores of high school, college and professional level shooters in my lifetime and have discovered that this transition is entirely mental. In other words, physically easy to do but psychologically hard because of a shooting release developed from youth with only limited elasticity being used in the fingers and wrist because a much longer arm stroke(which almost everyone has)will not generate maximum elasticity in the wrist and fingers. This only happens with a short, quick, explosive push from the arm and shoulders, if accompanied by a stretching of the fingers during the entire passing or shooting motion.
To help break this psychological barrier, I instructed players first to whip their passes against the backboard of the basket after whipping a pass to someone standing under the basket. After whipping a number of passes on about a 30 degree angle off the backboard, I tell the athlete all he or she has to do(psychologically)is raise that same passing motion to 60 degree angle (90 degrees being straight vertical) and maintain that same whipping action of the wrist and fingers while passing the basketball on that same 60 degree angle from now the shoulder and not the chest.
I then instruct athletes that if they can psychologically maintain the same whipping action of the wrist and fingers that they were able to do so easily when passing the basketball with a one hand pushing motion, that they now have the start of a short, quick shooting stroke that can be accomplished with the elastic whipping action of the wrist and fingers incorporated into their shooting release.
This is step one. However also the hardest to mentally overcome, work on this one first! If you feel this spring action of the fingers whipping through the basketball at release, you are beginning to experience the KEY to controlling your shooting release on the basketball. After this critical step, shooting practice becomes a matter of focus and coordination of the spring action of the fingers in the shooting release to make your release shorter, tighter and quicker.
Step two is to coordinate a bouncing action of the legs with the short arm stroke of the shooting motion. When you time the upward bouncing action of the legs with the short upward shooting motion of the arm, you are well on your way to becoming an accomplished 3 point shooter.
Good luck with your practice sessions and have fun!
Bill Crow – President & CEO Springbak, Inc.
For more news, tips and information from Springbak:
Visit the Official Springbak® Website at www.springbak.net – Peak Performance Springsoles / Insoles – Run Faster, Jump Higher, Lessen Fatigue
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/springbak
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/springbak
Friend us on MySpace: www.myspace.com/springbak
Tune in on YouTube: www.youtube.com/springbakinc
