Boost Your Ball Game: Exercises Designed to Improve Basketball Performance

If you want to be as good as LeBron James, Rajon Rondo, or Blake Griffin on the basketball court, then you have to realize that these athletes don’t rely on the sport alone to improve their performance. To develop certain strengths and work on their weaknesses, NBA players do a number of different exercises that help them bring their A-game to the court.

When it comes to working out to improve your basketball game, you have to remember to focus on two things: your vertical jump and your mobility or flexibility. Here are some examples of exercises that work on these three:

It’s all about explosion. The secret to a higher vertical jump is to generate as much force in as little time as possible. This explosion of force results in your legs launching you up like a cannon, enabling you to do that dunk you’ve always wanted to try.

To exercise your jumping skills, try standing under a basket or next to a wall while holding a medicine ball. Hold the ball over your head and quickly bring it down to your waist. Then, explode straight up as you lift the ball above your head again. After landing, pause for a couple of seconds and then repeat.

Try this until you’re able to touch the ball to a target such as the bottom of the net, the rim, the backboard, or the highest point of a wall.

A body like rubber. Aside from jumping skill, your mobility on the court will define how well you do in a game. Without flexibility, you could pull a muscle and get injured; on the other hand, by working on your moves, doing side steps and quick turns will be a piece of cake.

You can test your flexibility by doing the sit and reach test – a test that helps you gauge your lower back’s and hamstring’s flexibility. If you find that reaching is painful, you may need to work on your flexibility a little more to prevent injuries while playing basketball.

These are just some examples of exercises that can greatly improve your basketball game. Got any more to share? Feel free to leave a comment – we’d love to hear from you!