Basketball drills.

[Doobie]

This thread is mainly for basketball players, any tips on how to improve certain aspects of your game. With the weather getting warmer I am looking to get back to basketball full-time after taking a year off to rest my knees. I did play at times throughout the year but not like I used too. I am really looking forward to improving my handles and explosiveness this year. As some of you may know my main thing is taking jump-shots and I am looking to improve that as well. So what do you guys do to get to the top of your game?

I am also hoping this thread cancels out all the smaller threads that pop-up from time to time, so all questions can be posted here.

[Andrew]

Well for jumpshots, the most obvious is simply putting a lot of them up from all over the court to refine a technique that works for you and develops your ability to be able to knock it down from anywhere. If you can arrange to have someone help out by defending you then so much the better but shooting around alone is still miles better than doing nothing to practice your jumpshot.

I'd also recommend the Mikan Drill, no matter what your position.

For ballhandling, again it's repetition but you could take a page out of the Skills Challenge event and set up some obstacles to dribble around/through (chairs would be fine), anything that can simulate eluding defenders, forcing you to switch hands etc.

[Doobie]

The Mikan Drill has helped me a lot. I've done it for a few years now, it's usually part of my warm-up before I played a game. I was also going to ask if theres any drills that help you with stealing the ball. As for my jumpshot, my plan is to shoot around for about an hour a day.

Found air alert for anyone wanting to use it. I'm starting this in May.

http://f.freeblog.hu/v/b/k/vbkpecs/file ... %20III.pdf

[Andrew]

Anything that could aid in sharpening your reflexes could potentially help but I think the best way to hone your instincts and timing for steals and playing the passing lane would be practice and playing against an opponent.

[Al Ka Pwn]

cav blasters to improve your vertical leap.
stand on the last step of the stairs and raise and lower yourself like with the balls of your feet.

[shadowgrin]

but that only improves the calves. Does it really work? Jumping involves a lot more muscles than just calf muscles.

[Al Ka Pwn]

well I do those and I can dunk. I feel like it makes a difference if I do that exercise.

[Patr1ck]

The calf blasters are part of air alert the last time I did it. They of course strengthen the calves and the ankles, and may help stretch the ligaments and tendons. They do make a difference, just like those strength shoes or jumpsoles. Add a few more exercises and you won't just be able to just dunk, but fucking sky over people.

The jumping exercise where you jump as high as you can and spring yourself back up as soon as you land was very effective when I was doing air alert. Around the second week I noticed there was a significant increase in the amount of time I was spending at the height of my jump. It was in part because of the other exercises combined, but I remember that exercise being the most tiresome and made my legs really soar.

I liked the step up exercise, it was fun. The one with the chair where you push yourself up and switch legs.

[Oskar]

To improve your handles, just dribble A LOT, with both hands, eyes closed/looking away, etc. Try the spider dribble, just dribble with two balls, etc, I'm sure you can do that all already, but you know that keeping it up will only improve your ball handling skills. For explosiveness, Air Alert should work, though I haven't tried it myself yet, probably going to try sometimes, but I'd rather not mess my knees and all just yet.

For jumpshooting, the only thing that actually matters is technique, if you got that right, don't worry about the percentage you shoot while practicing or anything, but if you got all the follow throughs and if you remember it's a jumpshot, not a hopshot, you'll improve definitely, but a good technique is really needed. Watch Pistol Pete's tutorial (or w/e it is) on utube, it really helps if you do like it says and then just keep practicing, you'll improve, one way or another.

[Doobie]

Pdub, asking you personally does air alert TRULY work? Like did you complete the whole thing and did it really make that much of a difference?

[Patr1ck]

I did not complete the whole thing, but I went about 4 weeks, I think. I got really hard to complete some of the exercises at that point because of fatigue, so I started splitting some of the reps in half for a couple exercises. It definitely made a difference, though. That was several years ago. If I had been more committed and not a lazy blunt smoking dumbass at the time I might have finished it and been yamming on kids.

[shadowgrin]

not a lazy blunt smoking

Hell yes!