Basketball skills like shooting, ball handling, rebounding, stealing the ball, setting picks and screens, defense, keeping the post or boxing out, passing, blocking shots, moving without the ball, and foot-work are going to be your foundation especially a good jump shot. Now if you want to get to the next level of competition you must perfect your basketball skills and practice drills like you were playing in a game. Here are some great practice tips to make you the best you can be:

1. One-Spot Shooting – Shot continuously from one spot on the court until you hit 90% of your shots, then move to a new spot and repeat. Eventually you will be able to hit shots at incredible accuracy from anywhere on the court. Practice jump shots, lay-ups, hook shots, fad away jumpers, and standing shots with each hand. Practice dribbling before the shot, fake before the shot, basically shot as if you had a defender in your face.

2. One-hand Dribbling – Use one hand to dribble with, go through your legs, around and behind your back, over your shoulder, back and forth, side-to-side, high powerful bounces and low fast bounces. Do this with one hand at a time.

3. Plyometrics – You must be able to jump. You will most likely get a lot of jumping practice while playing, but to really unleash you full potential do some plyometrics. Try repetitive jumping from one spot bend down to your jumping angle and explode back up as high as you can, stay on the ground for only enough time for you to gather enough energy to jump as high as you can.

4. Squats and Leg Presses – You need major strength in your legs if you want to jump higher, hold the post, set better picks and screens. So you will need to be able to lift 2-3 times your body weight for squats and at least double that for your leg press. This will be painful, but you will gain tremendous strength, which will elevate your game quickly.

5. Upper Body Press and Pulls – Don’t forget about your upper-body. Fast hands means better dribbling, more steals and blocked shots, and a quick release shot. To increase your hand speed do push-ups, chin-ups are excellent for hand speed, shoulder presses, handstands, and shadow boxing. Now go out there and grab the rock!

6. Sprints – The best way to Increase HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is by running 5-10 second sprints. Sprints or any intense exercise will increase your HGH by as much as 300% for a few hours. What this means is that you will get faster, stronger, bigger muscles to take your basketball skills to the next level.

As hoops season tips off it’s time to start thinking about the basketball backboard and rim systems in your gymnasium. From junior recreation leagues and high school to junior college and division one NCAA programs both men and women players are getting bigger, stronger and faster and the stress this can put on rims and backboards increases the chance for damage and injury. Years ago power dunks and high flying players were limited to a few elite NBA stars but now even middle school players are doing their best Daryl Dawkins impression and trying to smash the glass of backboards when they throw down a vicious slam. Make sure your school or gym has high quality, durable and strong basketball backboards, backboard padding and goals to handle the strain of muscular kids.

No matter how strong or durable your indoor basketball system is you should always have a replacement system as back up just in case. Aside from players hanging on the rim after a dunk or inadvertent contact during blocks and rebounds basketball rims, backboards and nets eventually wear over time and having a solid back up ready to install can turn a postponed game into a short 15-minute wait. You can find solid replacement packages that include glass backboards, adjustable breakaway goals, bolt-on edge padding and nylon or chain netting to provide instant replacements for damaged or unsafe basketball system equipment during games and practices. Another good idea for basketball accessory equipment is backboard padding that comes in a wide variety of colors and helps protect players from head injuries when jumping high underneath the backboard.

Great for any indoor gymnasium is a portable basketball system that can be wheeled in a hurry to keep the game or practice going. Designed to meet the demands of adult recreation and elementary school play a portable rim and backboard system features a direct mount breakaway goal, rust-resistant powder coat finish, front mast padding on the basketball mount and durable acrylic backboard. Keep your players safe and the game and practices going with excellent indoor basketball system replacement equipment and portable goal units.