The basketball industry is the industry most rampant with misinformation anywhere in the world. There is more myths and misinformed people in the basketball training and coaching market than in any other market I’ve seen.
Today we are going to cut through the myths and misinformation and get to the truth of what it takes to be a great basketball player.
1.) Train 6 hours per day
I did this for years, simply because I heard Kobe Bryant did it. I found out the hard way that your body cannot possibly handle 6 hours of pounding per day on the basketball court. It’s way too much.
I don’t believe that its possible to train at a high quality for more than 1-2 hours per day, at most.
There is a reason that most games are only 30-40 minutes long. It’s because after that, the quality severely drops off.
Train for no longer than one hour on the court and make it count while you’re there. Train hard and efficient and get the most of your time. That approach will beat the “6-6-6” program any day.
2.) Weight lifting hurts your jumper
This is completely and totally false. I can’t believe this actually came to be a myth, because it couldn’t have been started by anyone with half a brain or ANY experience with basketball training.
Of course, if you go lift then immediately play basketball you’ll play like crap. But besides that, there are no long term negative effects of lifting weights. There are only positives.
Your range will improve and you will be able to get your shot off more effectively than ever before. Your entire game will expand. Get in the weight room and get strong. It can only help.
3.) You have to play basketball every day to improve
This is a tough one to swallow because it’s so widely believed. It’s also a crock. There is no reason to train daily, your body cannot handle it and you will be too worn down after a few weeks to get any benefit from your lackluster training.
Take at least two days off each week. I recommend lifting 2-3 days per week, and training on the court 3 days per week as well. Ideally, you should do your on-court training right before your lifting. This way you get a full 3-4 days off every week to recover. Your results will explode with your newfound recovery ability.