Basketball requires physical endurance and strength, and women players who want to succeed must train hard to stay in peak physical condition. Running, jumping and building a strong core are the basics of training for the game, in addition to the skills required for shooting and defense. Women can lift weights, to accompany a program of sprints, leaps and fundamentals.
Work the Core
Every movement the body makes in basketball will utilize the core in some fashion. The core is the back, the abs and the groin, otherwise known as the center of the body. Coaches are placing more emphasis on working core muscles, and that has caught on in all sports. According to Girls Hoops Online, four exercise ideas can help women's basketball players strengthen their core. They include abdominal training with an exercise ball, strength training with an exercise ball, balance training on a Bosu balance trainer and strength and balance training with weighted balls, commonly called medicine balls.
Don't Worry About Gender
There is no difference between basketball training for men and for women. Rick Torbett, a respected coach who also prepares training and mechanics movies, says on Better Basketball that "The power to get the ball to the rim is generated mostly from the legs and the core of the body. There's not much difference in leg and gluteal strength between boys and girls, especially in their younger years." Female players do not need to seek workouts suited for women only or think that certain workouts are only for men.
Sprint, Don't Jog
Women will get more out of their workouts if they focus on short bursts rather than sustained motion. Running wind sprints is an efficient way to train, and players should mix up the lengths of those sprints. One preferred method of sprinting is to have players run "suicides," in which they complete a circuit of varied-length sprints in succession. Distance running will not provide as many benefits as sprinting will.
Jump a Lot
Building calf muscles and other leg muscles will help build higher leaping ability. A common exercise has players lining up single-file facing the backboard. Then, the player in the front throws the ball against the backboard. The next player in line sprints up to catch the ball in mid-air and throws if off the backboard. The players go down the line, each performing the same task. Another jumping exercise is to set down a clipboard on the court and have players bounce back-and-forth over the clipboard for one minute.
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