Author: Jim Brown Date posted: Apr 11, 2009 Article views: 118 Wordcount: 504 Re-Publish
Basketball is a sport that depends upon speed and endurance both. However it also requires that the player is able to precisely control the basketball, thus necessitating a high degree of coordination and technique. Yet speed on the basketball court is not the same as running a sprint. The basketball player who reaches collegiate or professional level of expertise is required to be speedy in several directions at the same time.
* The well qualified basketball player must learn or be able to run forward, run backward, dodge from side to side at a moment's notice. In addition, the player must be able to control leaps while blocking another player or putting the ball through the hoop. All of this movement is done while either dribbling the ball, passing the ball to another player or playing defensive basketball to prevent the scoring or to interfere with the ball handling capabilities of another player.
* There are many practice drills that can assist the determined basketball player to improve both speed and agility. For example, setting up and running a slalom type course at top speed. You can even practice reversing direction with the assistance of another person blowing a whistle or calling out a signal unexpectedly. This drill should be done so that moving to the right or left equally quickly is practiced.
* Once you have worked through the drill with increased speed sprints interspersed with short rests, you should increase the number of repetitions with rests in between. This drill helps to increase both speed and endurance, both of which are necessary on the basketball court during a hard-fought game.
* A number of drills are used in preparing basketball players to compete either at the younger levels or at the professional level. Speed and agility can be practiced and endurance can be developed through increasing the tempo or lengthening the duration of the drill. The same is true of accuracy in shooting the baskets that rack up the points. For example, simple repetition of the movements will generally improve accuracy in shooting, but it can also solidify bad habits that destroy accuracy if care is not taken to improve.
* A technique to improve accuracy in shooting that has proven quite successful is that of envisioning successful shots. The player simply relaxes, closes his or her eyes and mentally envisions the movements that occur when the shot is successful. The theory is that the body learns as well from the mental picture of the actions as from the actions themselves.
* Another commonly used technique is to make the practice sessions more difficult than the game itself. For example, a slightly smaller basketball hoop may be used so that a higher level of accuracy is required in order to score.
The simplistic view of a basketball player is that height makes the difference between success and mediocrity on the basketball court, but this view is far from true. Even the tallest player can benefit from practicing some of the above techniques to increase accuracy and agility.
