Important Exercises for Basketball Players
To Improve Natural Talent
Coaches never fail to emphasize how exercises for basketball players help improve or perfect the game of a forward, center, or guard in a team. The sport of basketball is a team game wherein each member has a role to play. It also takes a tremendous amount of individual talent and innate physical attributes to excel in this sport.
A guard, for instance, must have excellent eyes and hands coordination in ball handling and distribution. A center, on the other hand, should possess the height and bulk necessary for both offense and defense on the board. The forward needs to have the quickness and natural agility to go for ball possession in any give situation on the hardcourt.
All these talents, however, won’t equate to championship trophies if they are not harnessed to their fullest potential. These natural skills need to be honed and developed in relation to the game fundamentals of basketball which include dribbling, passing, shooting, and rebounding. These basics will likewise include running which is de rigueur in most ball games.
Deep Knee Bend Exercise
Taking these physical demands of basketball, a list of exercise for the sport’s players will necessarily include those muscle groups that are used during the game. Among these muscles are those that are employed in repeated, high-intensity activities like jumping and sprinting. These groups of muscles are classified as fast-twitch, and special attention has to be given to their development because they are the most prone to injury. Even well-conditioned athletes often suffer from injury in fast-twitch muscle groups due to the rigorous demands of a fast-paced sport like basketball.
The muscles that are critical for a basketball player to develop are those in the limbs and in the abdomen. Included here are the quadriceps, the large thigh muscles at work in jumping and rebounding, as well as running. Also helping along are the hamstrings, the set of powerful muscles that form most of the back of our thighs.
This muscle group is crucial to the flexibility of our knee joints and thus its development is essential in order for a player to run faster and jump higher. Deep knee bends are good workouts for these muscles. In this exercise, the knees are bent slowly while the back is kept straight. Continue by crouching slowly to the lowest position possible and rising back up slowly. Do fifteen repetitions, increasing to twenty, thirty, in following sessions.
Calf Raise Workout for the Legs
To excel at rebounds, it is also necessary to develop the calf muscles of the lower leg. One simple workout for strengthening these muscles is through the calf raise. Here’s how it’s done. Stand with feet apart by about a shoulder width. Raise the heels slowly and steadily to tip-toe position. Lower slowly and repeat eight or twelve times. Do three to four sets a day.
Focus should be given to the abdominal muscles for adequate back support during the intense movements involved in basketball. The workouts have to center particularly on side abdominals that bear the brunt of the twisting and turning as players fake and pivot around the playing court. Strong abdominals are likewise essential for more accurate jump shots.
Specific exercises are designed by trainers for each of these muscle groups. Leg presses, for example, will address the development of muscles like the hamstring and the gluteus. A certain number of repetitions and sets have to be followed as a trainer shows how exercises for basketball players help win championships.
References
https://www.insidehoops.com/gym/leg-training.shtml
https://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/stretches-basketball.php
https://au.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/basketballstrengthandconditioningprogram
