Don’t know what drills you can do to improve your game? Don’t fret -here are the 8 best workouts to develop basketball skills.
TL;DR: The best workouts to develop basketball skills are Kobe Bryant’s basketball workout, Steve Nash’s shooting workout, RIP Hamilton’s cutting drill, Reggie Miller’s shooting workout, Dwyane Wade’s slashing workout, Steph Curry’s ball handling warm up and LeBron James’ core workout.
It is believed that it takes months of deliberate practice to master a new skill.
This statement is also true for improving in basketball. If you want to become a better shooter, you need to practise a bunch of shooting. If you want to be stronger, you have to put in the time and do resistance training.
But some of you are here because you don’t where to start. I sure didn’t know any drills or workouts when I first started playing basketball.
Matter of fact, I just did random ones that I found in magazines (many of them didn’t even compliment my strengths).
The lack of knowledge wasted a lot of my time. This is why I’m going to share with you the best workouts to master the fundamentals of basketball.
I believe there are many workouts online that will help you with specific skills, such as improving your handles or increasing your vertical.
But these attributes aren’t necessary for everyone. Not every type of player needs to do them, and I think a lot of people mistakenly think that they do.
However, I believe every type of player should master the fundamentals. These are the core skills that are required to play basketball and all the greats have mastered them.
So, here are the workouts that they did to become legends of the sport (however, legendary status for you is not promised):
Best Workouts For Beginners to Develop Basketball Skills
The Kobe Bryant Basketball Workout
Kobe Bryant was a great mid-range shooter. He was always able to find ways to get open looks, whether it was by pump-faking 10,000 times before a shot or by creating space with pivots in the post.
And once a sliver of an opening appeared, he would take and knock down the shot.
Kobe did this all the time. He was a master at it. And he reached this level by tirelessly working on the basic jump shot. He would spend hours in the gym form shooting from every zone on the court.
He pretty much played Around the World for hours, just shooting from in close and progressively moving out towards the 3-point line.
If you want to improve your jump shot, this is what you have to do as well.
- Click here to learn the Kobe Bryant Basketball Workout.
The Steve Nash Basketball Workout
We can all agree that Steve Nash was one of the best scorers in the NBA. He was able to attack the basket, pop up floaters, and shoot from beyond the arc.
Nash was able to score at will because he practised like how he played. For his workout, he would shoot a variety of shots (jumpers, runners, and hook shots) that he often did during games.
He also rebounded for himself. This forced him to continuously move around the court, giving him an added cardio workout, which benefitted him enormously during his time with the Phoenix Suns and their 7-seconds or less offence.
So, if you want to improve your (mainly) close-range shooting and runners (and cardio), try Nash’s workout.
- Click here to learn the Steve Nash Basketball Workout.
The RIP Hamilton Workout
Richard (RIP) Hamilton is one of the kings of moving without the ball. He was constantly running off screens to get open looks. And he was able to do this well because he had great footwork and knew how to read the court.
His teammate, Ben Wallace, also contributed to this because he’s big and strong, but that’s neither here nor there.
Anywhoo, to master these skills, he worked on running patterns and did chair workouts every practice. It trained his cardio, catch and shoot, shooting off-balance, and court vision.
Needless to say, moving without the ball is one of the most important skills to have. You can’t just stand in one spot. You have to move around, trying to get open and disrupting the opponent’s defence.
This workout will teach you how to do just that.
- Click here to learn the RIP Hamilton Basketball Workout.
The Reggie Miller Shooting Workout
Reggie Miller is undoubtedly a top 5 three-point shooter in NBA history.
He was able to knock down threes at will (while mocking all of his opponents). When he retired from the NBA, Miller was the top all-time three-point scorer.
He was later dethroned by Ray Allen, but he held that top spot for years.
To become a great marksman from beyond the arc, Miller practised long-distance shots for hours on hours. He would go around the court shooting until he made a certain amount of shots.
And this is what you have to do as well. If you want to make more threes consistently, you have to get comfortable shooting them.
And the only way to do so is to practise shooting them as much as possible.
Reggie Miller’s workout can help with this.
Additionally, in today’s game, everyone should be able to knock down threes from time to time. Basketball has evolved and three-point shooting is now a fundamental skill.
- Click here to learn the Reggie Miller Shooting Workout.
The Dwyane Wade Slashing Workout
Dwyane Wade is one of the best shooting guards in NBA history. But, in my opinion, he is arguably the best at scoring from the post and in close.
For a shooting guard, Wade scored on his defenders from the post a lot. He also made a ton of layups in his career.
And one of the reasons why he was able to do so is because he did The Mikan Drill and practised touch shots. These were two of his favourite on-court drills.
So if you want to play in the post better or make close-range shots consistently, try his shooting workout.
- Click here to learn Dwyane Wade’s favourite drills.
The Steph Curry Ball Handling
Can we all agree that Steph Curry has one of the best handles in the NBA?
He is constantly weaving in and out, and never does anything more than he needs to get open. He’s also broken the ankles of great defenders (ahem, Chris Paul).
Curry has a lot of control when ball-handling because he’s put in numerous hours working on it. He practises dribbling before games, and before and after practices.
And this is what you have to do to improve.
You have to dribble the ball whenever you can. You need to get comfortable with bouncing the ball. And practising like Curry can help you achieve that.
- Click here to learn the Steph Curry Ball Handling Workout.
The LeBron James Core Workout
LeBron James is durable. He rarely ever gets injured and this is especially amazing considering how he plays.
He’s constantly bulldozing his way to the rim or chasing down fast breaks, so you’d think he’d twist an ankle once in a while, but nope.
And he is able to play aggressively and not have a care for injuries because he has a strong core.
He also just has a lot of muscles. But his stability and core strength are why he’s rarely stung by the injury bug.
To develop this, James does a lot of balance and core workouts. He does resistance band training, movements on the exercise ball, and core and single-limb exercises.
So if you want to be structurally strong from head to toe, you have to work out like LeBron.
- Click here to learn the LeBron James Durability Workout.
The Jeremy Lin Layup Workout
Jeremy Lin is a pretty well-rounded player. But what he really excels at is attacking the basket.
If Lin sees an open lane to the hoop, he’s going to take it. And the majority of the time, he makes the shot. If he doesn’t, it’s usually because he gets fouled.
Attacking the basket is a good skill to have. You can get cold taking mid-range shots and threes, but layups go in most of the time (emphasis on most).
However, to increase your chances of making contested layups, you have to learn how to make layups in traffic because there will be hands all over the place trying to impair your vision and smackdown your shot.
You also need to have the strength to get a shot off in traffic. In there, you’re going to get bumped and pushed, and I guarantee someone will pull your arm down.
The Jeremy Lin Workout will help you develop both of these things. You’ll practise contested layups and shots, and build strength with weight training.
- Click here to learn the Jeremy Lin Workout.
Final Thoughts
These are the basketball skills you should try to master.
It’ll take a lot of time and you probably won’t master all of them. But if you become proficient at each one (and master a couple), you’ll be a really good player.
So do them and let’s see how much you improve!
