Tuesday, May 23, 2006
How Can I Improve For Basketball?
I have a very soft place in my heart for basketball players as I was a competitive basketball player for 13 years. I played on every level except professional, just didn't have the genes. That is why I really want to help many basketball players avoid the common pitfalls of training. First, training with weights will NOT stunt your growth. If you get on a sensible training program that allows you to slowly increase load you will have no problems. Unfortunately this myth about stunting growth will not die. There is no research to support it and countries outside of the US have used weight training for centuries without producing dwarfs as athletes.
You are close in your assumption on how to keep defenders off of you and "bang" inside the paint. In actuality, it is the legs that are so crucial in being strong. A great example is Yao Ming. Obviously he is very tall, but looks relatively thin in his upper body. He is able to hold his own by having a very strong lower body. Your lower body work should involve exercises like deadlifts, squats, Olympic lifts, one legged exercises, and minimize the use of machines.
As far as your abdominals, yes this would be helpful as well as getting a strong low back (which can be done indirectly with the above mentioned exercises). I would suggest you take a look at my "Mighty Abs" series which depicts exercises that actually load the abdominal area which is something that most athletes and trainers forget to do!
Don't forget though, strength training is just one part of the equation. You still need to be performing your drills, conditioning work (jump rope drills and unweighted exercises in my "Getting In Shape" series), flexibility work, and agility drills. Your know you have a good coach if they cover all these aspects in a well planned program.
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