The Best Individual Basketball Workout PDFs

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If you are trying to find the best basketball workout PDFS, we’ve got you covered. You must appropriately structure your workouts to effectively facilitate your development, so you must have an excellent source to build your workout from. We are going to tell you the best workout practices and give you some example (individual basketball shooting, dribbling and more) PDFs today.

How to Structure a Basketball WorkoutHow to Structure a Basketball Workout

Basketball workouts throughout basketball season and throughout the offseason are very crucial to keep players in-shape both mentally and physically. The type, intensity, duration, and timing of workouts are all influential to the overall workout’s impact.

There are various ways that a person can workout to achieve the desired results. We are going to explore one particular way workouts can be structured to be effective.

Wholistic Warm-up

We believe the first part of a workout should comprise of a warm up. The first part of the warm-up should be a wholistic warm-up that gets as much of your body warmed and prepared for your main workout. Before you start your exercises, the first part of your warm-up should be stretching.

Stretch your body’s muscles to get them ready for your workout, and remember to pay more attention to muscles that have been injured or are more likely to be injured during your workout. When your muscles are warm, they perform better than if they weren’t.

Another main reason why a warm-up is essential before a workout is the prevention of injuries. Wholistic warm-ups include wind sprints, jumping jacks, and any other warm up that gets most areas of your body active.

Specific Warm-up.

After you have completed your wholistic warm-up, we suggest you do a specific area warm up. This type of warm-up will focus on the area of your body that you will be focused on throughout your workout.How to Structure a Basketball Workout

For example, if you will be working on low post footwork in your workout, your specific warm-up exercises should focus on getting your leg muscles warm and loose as you will use them more than other muscles in this workout. Light jogging is one such warm-up that can get your leg muscles warm and ready.

Main Focus Drills

This next part of your workout will focus on the main drills that you want to complete throughout the activity. For example, if you will be working on shooting free throws, your main focus drills will be various free throw shooting drills that will be impactful to your free throw percentage throughout the season.

Position or Weakness Drills

After you have completed your main focus drills, we suggest that you do general drills that will improve your weaknesses or positively impact your ability to play a specific position. This is a secondary focus drill workout that will improve your game over time if done consistently.
For example, if you have a weakness in boxing out for rebounds, after you have done your main drill in your workout, you can spend approximately 20% of your training working on box-out exercises. It would help if you did these secondary drills in every workout for short periods to improve over time.

Cooldown

The final aspect of your workout should be your cool down. The cooldown phase of a workout serves to help your body adjust and relax, which will help prevent injuries. Various cooldown drills will help to relax your muscles and protect your body. Some of these include light jogging, walking the workout area, stretching, and any other low effort drills that will not strain your muscles.

What Makes a Good Basketball WorkoutWhat Makes a Good Basketball Workout?

Workouts should be aimed at improving your overall game. Some junior teams will do workouts as a team and not as individuals, but always be mindful that a workout should be beneficial to you, so if you feel as if a workout is not, mention this to your coaches. Before a workout to be beneficial, it must have three qualities. These qualities are reviewed below.What Makes a Good Basketball Workout

Addresses Specific Needs

A workout should have specific aims. When you plan a workout, plan the workout with a goal in mind and structure the workout to achieve the goal. Players can do general workouts, but they should also be accompanied by a specific workout that will help the players reach a purpose aligned with their game’s improvement.

Impactful

Players and coaches should structure workouts in a way that they are impactful and not just superficial. The intensity, timing, and duration of a workout can determine the impact a workout will have. If a workout is not impactful, it is a waste of time.

For example, doing layup drills for 5 minutes won’t help players improve their ability to make layups in games. Doing layups for an extended period of 20 minutes or more, with different obstacles added at intervals, will help players improve their ability to make a layup.

Beneficial at gametime

When we say a workout should be beneficial in games, we mean players and coaches should tailor a workout around the skills a player will need to use in a basketball game. You should always do workouts that will translate to the things you do in a basketball game. For example, if you are an undersized point guard that never post up on offense, do not waste your time doing post up workouts as you would never use these in games.

Ball Handling WorkoutsBall Handling Workouts

Here are a few individual basketball workout drills that you can use to improve your ball-handling capabilities.

Spider Drill

The spider drill is a speed dribbling drill that helps to improve balance and handling speed.

One Dribble Alternating Stationary crossovers

This is a basic crossover drill that will teach players how to do quick crossovers.

Figure 8

Use this drill to improve balance and awareness when teaching or to learn crossovers.

Individual Basketball Practice PlanIndividual Basketball Shooting Drills

Learning to shoot the basketball or improve the way you shoot the basketball can be done independently. You can use many drills to get your shot wet, and we will go through a few of them with you now.

Backboard Tap then Dunk (both sides alternating)

This is useful for those of us who want to be stronger at our dunk shots. The backboard tap dunk is a drill used to teach players how to rebound and finish the ball strong around the rim. To complete the drill, a player would stand to the side of the rim while holding the ball, jump with the ball and tap the ball on the backboard with both hands.

After landing with the ball, immediately jump back up and dunk the ball. After this, the player should gather the ball, step to the next side of the rim and perform the same steps again. This can be done in sets of 5 on each side and then gradually increase the amount over time.

Stationary Layups

The layup shot is often considered to be the easiest shot in basketball and one that is usually taught first by coaches. The stationary layup drill is a drill that will teach players the basic understanding of the layup. While performing this drill, you will understand the amount of force and proper placement of the basketball on the backboard for the layup to be successful.

To perform a stationary layup, start on your dominant side. A player would stand at approximately 15 to 30 degrees to the rim and the backboard and gently tap the ball in the box above the rim on the backboard. Do with both feet grounded. Use two hands to start. The player should gatherer the ball and then return to the same spot.

After you have mastered scoring the ball in this manner, switch from two hands to your dominant hand. Raise the corresponding leg to your dominant hand, and then try to score with the other leg on the ground. After you have mastered this, switch to the opposite side of the rim, start with both feet on the ground, then switch to your non dominant hand while raising the corresponding leg.Individual Basketball Shooting Drills

Running Layups

If a player masters scoring the ball with the stationary layup, the next drill recommended would be the running layup. Running layups will help players to adjust to a more in-game situation as most of the layups they will get to score in the games will be running layups.

To perform running layup, extend you’re starting position out to the free-throw line extended. Take one or two dribbles, then pick up the ball, take one or two steps depending on how far you are away from the rim, and then attempt to gently release the ball in the box above the rim. After you master this on your dominant side, switch to your non-dominant side, and repeat the procedure.

Free Throw Reps

Having the ability to shoot the ball consistently from the free-throw line is a very good ability to possess in basketball. To improve your free throw shooting ability, the best drill is to shoot more free throws.

Before you stand at the free-throw line and put up your free throw shots, start by standing one ft in front of the basketball rim and make a few shots comfortably. After you have been able to comfortably shoot the ball from directly before the basket, take one step back and repeat. Keep doing this until you are at the free-throw line, and then put up free throws until your arms are tired.

Mobile Backspin Catch and Shoot

These individual basketball shooting drills are useful for individuals who want to improve their catch-and-shoot ability on their own. Take the ball in both hands and toss the ball anywhere on the court but toss it with a very strong backspin. The backspin will make the ball bounce backward instead of forwards, and this will allow you to run and catch it and take a shot.

Stationary Backspin Catch and Shoot

Stationary backspin catch-and-shoot is similar to the mobile version, but in this version, you toss the ball a few feet in front of you so that it bounces right back to your hands. This will help you to practice catching and shooting while spotting up in a game.

Half Court Dribble to spot and shoot

Many players cannot shoot the ball off the bounce, but there are a few drills that can be incredibly helpful in this regard. The half-court dribbling drill will help you dribble from short distances in games and then pull up and make a shot.
To do the drill, start at the half-court with the ball and dribble to a predetermined spot on the court and then pull up and take a shot in stride. Repeat this until you can consistently knock down shots from specific areas.

Full Court Dribble to Spot and Shoot

The full court dribble shooting drill is one that does two things. It will teach players to shoot while dribbling at a fast pace and, secondly, shoot while dribbling from one end of the court right into a shot on offense.
Remember that players should do this drill at game speed as much as possible to make it very impactful. Start at the opposing baseline, dribble full speed to a predetermined spot and then pull up for your shot.

Basketball Workouts for Guards

These videos demonstrate various full basketball workouts that guards can follow to improve their ball handling, defense, shooting, speed, and agility.

Helpful Sites to Find Basketball Workout PDFsHelpful Sites to Find Basketball Workout PDFs

This PDF lists a complete workout program that perimeter players can use to improve the skills necessary to be effective on the outside.

Check out this basketball workout plan

If you play the guard position, this next site is where you need to be. It details workouts uniquely helpful to guards.

Check out this basketball workout plan for point guards

We have a list of drills that are useful to help players work out effectively independently.

Check out this youth basketball individual drill

This next workout is designed to help teams achieve their full potential.

Check out this basketball practice plan PDF

Guards are vital to any team, and this next link will help them do their duties well.

Check this individual development workout PDF

Wrapping Things Up: The Best Individual Basketball Workout PDFs

A basketball workout should be impactful, beneficial, and specific. A workout can be done with teammates and coaches, but it can also be beneficial if done alone with proper information. Remember to stretch before and after workouts. You should always warm-up before you workout as well. Follow the directions from our PDFs, and you can upgrade your game.

Did you find this post helpful? Then you may also like our article on the best basketball drills you can do by yourself here.

More engaging basketball FAQ posts here:

> The Best Basketball Practice Plan PDFs

> How to Get Better at Basketball: Tips & Drills

> How to Get Better at Basketball at Home

Hoops Addict
Hoops Addict

Hoops Addict was created to help basketball fans of all ages learn more about the sport and find the best basketball gear to improve their ability to hoop. He has been a huge basketball fan for decades, watching thousands of basketball games through the years to learn the ins and outs of the game.

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