“Workouts? Why should I workout? I’d rather be playing!”
   Well, if you’re a weekend warrior who’s only interest is getting together with your friends for some social hoops, then don’t read any further. But, if you’re really looking to improve your game, or perhaps you’re a beginner and you want to develop a game, then individual basketball workouts can take you to the next level, regardless of where you are on the road of player development.

First, let’s establish what is NOT a basketball workout.

a. Games are not basketball workouts. It’s like the difference between chopping down trees and sharpening the axe that cuts down the trees. Playing basketball is chopping the trees. The basketball workout is sharpening your axe so that when you do  go to cut down the trees, you do it easier and better than the other guy.

b. Running, jumping, lifting weights or anything else that can be called conditioning or strengthening is not a basketball workout. Although individual basketball workout should physically condition you, just physical conditioning alone is not the type of workout that I’m talking about. What you do with a ball in your hands should be considered separate from building your body. Don’t short-cut yourself by substituting one for the other. You need both.


12 KEYS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL WORKOUT:

1. Have realistic expectations. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The development of skills takes time, and improvement comes in small increments. Instead of hours and days, look at it in terms of months and years. Build your game the way the pyramids of Egypt were built: one block at a time, layer by layer.

2. Each day, earn your shower. Don't skip days. If you are concerned about your health, you wouldn’t skip days before eating healthy meals, would you? Feed your game with a daily dose of workouts. Guard it. Protect it. Give it your highest priority. Your basketball workout plans should be executed if you're going to develop your game.

3. Set a time limit for your workout. This is for the sake of your conscience. When you’re finished with your workout, you’re finished. You’ve met your daily goal. Now go enjoy life. If you don’t keep a balanced life, then you won’t be able to sustain the workouts over a long period of time. That's the whole point of a basketball workout program - you do it, then you're done.

4. Make sure your individual basketball workouts imitate a real 5 on 5 game. Basketball is not a long, slow endurance marathon. It’s sprint – recover –sprint – recover – sprint – recover. Your basketball workout drills should be designed the same way.
   Drill a skill hard for 2 minutes and then rest and recover with free throws or stationary dribbling for 1 minute. Using this method, you could train 20 different skills in a 1 hour workout. And if you’re shooting free throws to recover, then you're drilling 21 different skills in that one hour.

5. Incorporate music into your workouts. For whatever reason, workouts are more enjoyable with music. Also, being able to concentrate on your game without being distracted from what you're hearing, is a skill that will imitate the crowd noise in a real game. And as we all know, crowd noise only gets louder and louder at every level of the game. This is especially true for workouts for college basketball or pro ball, because the noise and intensity in college games is so high at that level, and you should have that level of noise and intensity in your college basketball workouts.

6. If you've got specific basketball workout plans that are scripted down to the minute, how are you going to time yourself? Let’s get practical. Assuming that you’re by yourself, how can you time yourself during the individual basketball workout? I have 3 possible ways:
   a. Digital wristwatches are so cheap that they’re almost disposable. You can buy one with a stopwatch for $5-$10. My two problems with the wristwatch are that (1) you have to train yourself to periodically glance at the watch, and (2) wearing something, even on your non-shooting wrist, can be annoying.
    b. Use music to time your intervals. If each song is an average of 4 minutes in length, then shoot 5 FTs at the beginning of the song. This will take you about 1 to 1.5 minutes (rebounding your own shots). After the five FTs, drill for the remainder of the song. When the song ends, it’s time to recover by shooting 5 FTs through the beginning of the next song.
   c. Time your intervals by counting the number of shots. For example, let’s say that your first drill is something simple like 3 point shots by spinning yourself a pass and catching and shooting. Depending on how fast you can rebound your shot and get back to the 3 pt line, it might take 10, 15, or 20 shots to take up 2 minutes or 3 minutes or whatever length of time you’ve set for yourself. You’ll have to experiment a little at first, but after one workout, you’ll be able to write down the number of shots that each drill takes. Your workout might look like this: 
  20 three point shots. 5 Free Throws
  15 shot fake, one dribble, pull-up jumpers. 5 Free Throws
  10 drive, pull-up and shoot the bank shots. 5 Free Throws
  12 trips back and forth on your driveway using crossover dribbles. 5 FTs, Etc.

7. Work on both your strengths AND your weaknesses. Don't forget either. Develop an individual basketball workout plan that will work what you do best AND whatever skills you're lacking.

8. Keep a written log, like a diary, of your progress. It’s amazing what happens to your expectations when you begin to write things down. You could even start a file on your computer - consider it an online basketball workout plan.

9. Be aware of the stages of development that everyone goes through. In the first stage, you’ll be awkward and slow as you work on a new skill. The next stage is a challenge to see how many successful repetitions you can put together. The last stage is when you’re able to execute it at game speed over and over again. It’s human nature to expect yourself to jump straight to the last stage. When people expect themselves to be at stage 3 immediately, they get discouraged and quit. So, if you’re like 99.99% of the rest of us mortals, you’ll have to go through the first two stages. It’s OK, even if your a pro. It's part of having realistic expectations. Real improvement will come in time.

10. If you're a beginner, construct your individual basketball workouts to include all of the fundamentals each day:
  Catch and shoot
  Shooting off the dribble
  Ball handling (speed and control)
  Passing off a wall to yourself with both hands
  From triple attack position: shot fake, one dribble and shoot the pull-up jumper going both right and left
  From triple attack position: shot fake and take it all the way to the goal both right and left,
  Lay-ups on both sides of the goal with both hands, including reverse lay-ups,
  Back-to-the-basket moves
  Free Throws
  Etc.

11. If you are at some level above the beginner, or you're looking for workouts for college basketball or even pro basketball workouts, then your workouts may take on themes. Monday might be entirely about moves from a pivot foot. Tuesday may be all moves and shots off the dribble. Wednesday is pure shooting. Thursday is pure ballhandling. Friday is back to the basket moves and shots. Saturday is sweep against the grain moves and shots. And so-on Non-beginners will still cover all the fundamentals of the game, but instead of doing them all in one day, it may take one week. (Perhaps on Sunday, you work only on the weakest part of your game.)

12. And last, remember that “YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE IT!” If you love this game, then spending time with your best friend (your basketball) will never be work. It’s a love affair. It’s the highlight of your day. It’s just you, the ball, and the goal. You are in control of your game – your personal player development. You've gotta love it, and you will love getting better!

Good luck with your workouts,

Rick Torbett