Questions From Subscribers...

Charlie,


Something that got me into realy good shape quick for basketball is the Indian Run. Its where you line up all the girls in a line and htey do lap around the gym but the first person in line has to basketball and pass over their head to the girl behind them and keep doing that until it gets to the back then the girl from the back has to to basicly a fastbreak kinda of dribble to get up to the front and you keep doing that until you get back to the person in the front.

Like

Hello I coach an AAU team the New York Revolution and our girls travel Nationally quite extensively. However in our area the level of competition is very low and my girls do not get into strong enough basketball shape in order to compete with some of the talent we face once we move out of our area. I also have to work rather quickly because with traveling we generally get two to four practices a week depending on our schedule, and that is to impliment everything. Any suggestions on how to improve strength and endurance and still have time to teach our basketball? Anything will help(Drills or suggestions on how to change our practice routine).

Like

Since court dimensions can be different, let's assume that the width is 45 ft & the length is 80 feet. If you ran around the sidelines, that would be approximately 250 feet. There is 5280 feet in a mile. Take 5280 / 250 feet. That equals 21.12 laps.

So, I'd say somewhere between 20 & 25 laps.

Like

How many times do you have to run around a basketball court to make a mile?

Like

Thanks for the tips

now, i know it

thx so much

Like

Geneva,

You might be interested in reading this ariticle about finishing with your eyes:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/layups.html

Like

What are some drills for finishing in traffic after a drive?

Like

Thanks

Like

Well done Carrie. This is very good advice and explanation. I have just couple extra thoughts that come to mind...

It’s true, Anaerobic and Aerobic conditioning is important for a basketball player. But in order for a basketball player to be in GREAT all around condition, you need hit two more areas. Here are the four key conditioning aspects you should be concerned with...

Aerobic (Endurance for the muscles, heart, and lungs)
This allows you to finish the end of games and play hard for the entire game without getting tired.

Anaerobic (Conditioning for short bursts)
This is when you need to sprint up and down the court 4 or 5 times without coughing up a lung. Just because you can jog a consistent pace for 2 hours doesn’t mean you can sprint at short bursts without getting tired. This is a different type of conditioning.

Muscle Explosiveness and Quickness
We all know that jumping high, exploding past the defender, and moving your feet quickly will make you a better basketball player! That’s why you should NOT neglect this part of basketball fitness. Jogging won’t make you jump higher so you need to do other exercises for this.

Muscle Strength
Strong hands will help you hold on to the ball when it’s swiped at. Strong arms will help you clear out for the rebound. Strong abs, lower back, and mid section will help all aspects including balance off your jump shot and finishing in traffic. Strong legs will help you jump higher, maintain position, play defense, and so on.

So this is the fourth conditioning aspect for you to work on!

It’s not enough just to work on a few aspects of fitness and conditioning. To be great you need to focus on ALL four areas.

Your basketball conditioning work out should incorporate all four of these aspects. So you might want to do something like this:

Day 1 Aerobic Endurance – Jog 400 meters, do 20 push ups, jog 400 meters, do 20 push ups, jog 400 meters, do 20 push ups, jog 400 meters, do 20 push ups. This is done without rest in between. You’ll notice that I added push ups because not only do your legs and heart need endurance, but so do the other muscles in your body.

Day 2 Muscle Explosiveness – 12 squat jumps, 10 clap push ups, line jumps for 20 seconds, 15 ankle hops. Repeat the sequence a couple times.

Day 3 Anaerobic Conditioning – 10 burpees, 2 hill sprints, 60 seconds of speed (jump) rope. Repeat the sequence a couple times. If you’re no sure what burpees are, here’s a link to explain:
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/burpeeclip.htm

Day 4 Muscle Strength – 8 one arm push ups, 8 pull ups, 20 v-ups, 8 one leg squats, 10 single leg calf raises. Repeat.

Once you completed day 4, you can take a day off then start all over again.

There are hundreds of different exercises and work outs to help you improve in those areas above. This is just meant to give you some ideas so you can come up with your own work out. And you’ll notice that none of the exercises above require equipment. So you can do them anywhere and have NO excuses! :)

Good luck!

Jeff Haefner
BreakthroughBasketball.com

Like

Answer:
There is a distinct difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is the kind of exercise that is low intensity and makes you sweat, but keeps your heart rate below a certain threshold (which varies per individual.) Anaerobic exercise is intense exercise that depletes the body of oxygen. In the game of basketball, both aerobic and anaerobic exercise are used for each basketball competition and scrimmage. Therefore, it’s great that you’re thinking about training for both. Here are a few conditioning drills that can help you:

Aerobic
A light jog around a track or around the gym is an excellent way to obtain cardiovascular health while achieving aerobic exercise. Women should be able to jog a mile in about 8 minutes, men in about 7 minutes in order to achieve cardiovascular and aerobic health.

Jump rope for about five minutes during practice. Jumping rope vigorously will help you achieve an anaerobic exercise level, but light jumping will not only help to improve your jumping skills, but it will also provide you with a solid aerobic exercise.

Do sets of walking leg bends across the court. Walking leg bends will help to build the thigh muscles and train the core of the body for balance. When the walking leg bends are done with enough speed and energy, players will achieve a level of aerobic exercise.

Anaerobic
Aerobic exercises can easily be converted into anaerobic exercises if they are performed vigorously enough. For example, if you can shave a minute and a half off of your mile run, then you will likely achieve an anaerobic exercise. You know you are getting an anaerobic exercise from your training when you are short of breath. As such, push your body to the point where you are short of breath after your workout and you will have an anaerobic workout completed.

Many people will run sprints or "suicides" on the court in order to achieve a quick an aerobic exercise. A sprint drill can be done by sprinting back and forth between lines on the court. Players can also sprint on an outdoor track.

Running the stairs is a great way to get an anaerobic exercise. Run up and down the bleachers as fast and as hard as you can. As you run the bleacher stairs, you will also be training your leg muscles to pump oxygen through your legs while building reflexive leg muscles. Plus, running the stairs will train you to use your arms to pump you through a workout (which will translate to a faster sprint down the court.)

Pick a line on the court and jump back and forth across the line while holding a basketball above your head. Do this rigorously for two minutes (if you can make it). not only will you train your muscles to reach up for the rebound, but you’ll build jumping muscles while giving your body a good anaerobic workout.

In the game of basketball, it’s never enough to simple have excellent aerobic health or anaerobic health. You need to not only be able to sprint quickly down the court, but you also need to be able to stay strong throughout the entire game.

Carrie Belt
Editor - BreakthroughBasketball.com

Like