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Most children grow up wanting to be like their idols. Now, that could be following in their parent’s footsteps, it might be that they want to become a world leader. But for many children, they want to grow up to be like the sports stars on TV. If they’re basketball fans, then it’s likely they want to be the next Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James.
But to get to that level, the level of an NBA superstar, it’s no walk in the park. You have to put in a lot of training, eat the right diet, be determined, and persevere even through the toughest of times. And even if you do all that, it’s no guarantee that you’ll make it to the top. There is no guarantee that you’ll make it as a professional basketball player.
However, if you believe you have what it takes to go all the way, then here are a few routines you can try to help you on your way to NBA stardom.
Shooting
There are two sides to every basketball game. Offense and defense. Now people say that the best offense is a strong defense, and whilst that is true, because the more you can prevent the other team from scoring, it gives you a better chance at winning. However, you won’t win if you don’t put points on the board.
So shooting is one of the first things you should practice. Now there are several different exercises you can do to practice your shooting skills. You can practice running and throwing the ball on the backboard of the hoop to get a rebound. Rebounds can often win or lose a game, if someone’s shot misses, it’s important for someone to be there to follow it up to make sure the ball goes through the hoop.
You can also practice free throws, something you’ll get when fouled around the net or after the number of fouls committed by a team build up to a certain level. These are simple 1 pointers you get, similar to a penalty in the likes of hockey or football (soccer) without anyone in your way. Hence the name free throw.
And then you’ve got 3 pointers, long-distance throws made from outside the 2 point area. Make it from the outside of the D and you’ll bag an extra point. The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll feel when making a throw, and the more points your team will score which will help them to win.
Blocking
As we said above, the strongest form of offense is a strong defense. Whilst the defensive players may not get the plaudits that the offensive players do, they’re just as important. Any team can have a star player who dunks more baskets than I do cookies in milk, but it’s the defensive players who win games. The defensive players who influence the NBA odds of a team winning or losing.
So, if throwing baskets isn’t your strongest skill, then maybe this is the route you can go down. Blocking is the skill of being able to prevent the opposition from scoring. Jumping in the air to make yourself as big as possible to prevent the ball from going through the hoop. You can do this by getting in the way, or knocking a ball out of the other player’s hands without making contact.
Now, defensive players are very strong so you’d have to put on some serious muscle in order to fulfill this role with the best of them. So it’s important to work on strength and condition training to be able to do this job as best as you can.
Stamina
Working on cardio is your next step, as in basketball you’re non-stop running up and down the court. Cardio exercises will help improve your heart rate, breathing rate and build your fitness levels so you can keep running up and down all game, covering every inch of the court. It also helps to build stamina so you can get back before an opposition player scores, or to get ahead of defenders so you can shoot for the hoop yourself.
Strength
As we mentioned earlier, strength is incredibly important when it comes to defending, but it is also important for offensive players. They need to be able to shield the ball and hold off opposition players, allowing other teammates to make their way up the court to pass the ball so they can get a shot off when the original player can’t make one.
Things that are good for strength workouts are doing things like weights, deadlifts, anything really that builds muscle, whether that be on your arms, legs or your core. A balanced workout is best, but it’s alright to focus each day on different areas of the body, so you don’t overdo one area in particular.
Stretching
Now the final thing you should do when training to become like an NBA professional is to stretch. This prevents injuries that can keep you out of the game. It also means the more you stretch, the more likely you can reach to make that all-important block, or the all-important rebound to get the ball into the net.
If you work on all these areas, you’ll be in a good position to one day potentially make it as a professional in the NBA.
