Basketball Training – Stability Ball Training

January 19, 2009 at 12:34 am · Filed under Core

The core, which is the abs and the lower back, is very important in the game of basketball and should definitely be implemented into your basketball training schedule. Think the core isn’t important during the game? Think again. You use your core every time you jump to block, jump to rebound, jump to shoot, when playing defense, when driving to the bucket with an explosive first step, etc. I know you get the idea.

Now, you might be thinking, “I already work on my abs.” That’s all fine but for basketball, defined abs doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to be able to do all the movements mentioned above to the best of your ability. When you’re working on your core, you need to focus on strength but also, mobility, flexibility and balance. All this can be done with the use of a stability ball or Swiss ball.

• The use of a Swiss ball incorporated into your workouts will allow you to:

• Develop strength and flexibility in the core.

• Decrease the likelihood of injuries by strengthening weakened muscles and improves posture.

• A variety of exercises can be performed with a pair of dumbbells and/or resistance bands.

An important advantage of strength ball training is that it allows strengthening of weak muscles that prevent injury. This is mainly because when your body has weak muscles and they are put through a rigorous test like an intense ball game, you are much more likely to get injured. Swiss ball exercises aid your weak muscles and prevent injuries.

In order to use Swiss balls to their potential, you need to educate yourself about the proper uses of the Swiss ball through an instructor or proper information from an authority such as Lorne Goldenberg. He explains the various exercises in depth.

Put It Into Action!

Here are a couple of exercises that you can do to start strengthening your core and sculpting your abs:

Superman

Start with laying your stomach on the ball and your body at a 45-degree angle. At this point, you can balance yourself with the tips of your toes. Lift your arms and stretch them out just like if you were flying and keep your arms straight while keeping your balance. This exercise works the whole back and the glutes.

Abdominal rolls

Start with lying on your back on the floor with the knees slightly bent and the feet flat on the floor. Take the Swiss ball and place it on your thighs and close to the knees. Lift your head and shoulder blades off the floor while rolling the ball away from your upper body with the hands moving laterally towards your knees, hold for 1 second, and come back to starting position.

Keep in mind that there are many exercises you can do to train your core. The Swiss ball is no the be all end all of core training. Did this help? Don’t understand the importance of the core? Let us know.

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Basketball Core Training

October 31, 2008 at 1:01 am · Filed under Core

Core training is one of the most important factors of a basketball player’s body. Don’t get me wrong, you need quickness, agility, strength and overall skill in the sport but the core is what gives you that competitive advantage or “umph” into it.

For basketball training, you must train the whole core area which consists of the abdominals and lower back. The core is the area that connects your upper body and lower body and this is what brings momentum into any part of your game. When you’re in a game, your body does the following actions:

1. Jump to rip down rebounds
2. Elevate to dunk or lay-up
3. Elevate to rebound
4. Push body forward to pass

If you didn’t notice yet, the most important factor to the intensity of those actions may not be the core but it does have an effect. Here is an example: When you are jumping to get a rebound, most of the time, you don’t jump directly up. You bend your legs, pull back your hands and then jump. If your core is weak, there is a good chance that you will not be able to get the highest you can and there may be a kink in your movement. Most of the movements in the game of basketball have a lot of to do with the core being active and this is why you must train it properly and effectively. Once you have a strong core, your body is balanced and it moves in one smooth movement.

Today, I will be giving you two exercises that will strengthen the core and give you more stability in your movements:

1) Plank: This exercise is a very popular core exercises because it absolutely provides hard-hitting results. To do this exercise, in a push-up position and instead of balancing on your hands, balance your body with the forearms also in a line with your body.
a. Stay in this position for as long as you can. Your goal should be 2 minutes at least on each reptition. Rest 60 seconds and redo the plank position again.
b. The point is to keep your body in a straight line throughout the 2 minutes interval
2) Superman: Lie down on your chest with your hands and legs straightened out. Raise your hands and legs straight up as if you were to put your arms and legs together. Hold up for 10 seconds at each repetition. Rest for 5 seconds and hold the superman position for another 10 seconds.

I have just given you two basketball training exercises. Now, I can give you 500 exercises and you still won’t have a strong core unless you get up and do it!

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