How To Design Your Own Basketball Warm Ups

No matter how good your free-throw shot is, without a warm-up it's worth zero. Challenge yourself to get the best out of your pregame ritual and prepare your body for the extremes of a game. An effective warm-up is the start you need to give you and your team the edge over the opponents, as this can be the difference between winning or losing.

Step 1

Decide the amount of time allocated for the required warm-up. This could be based on the importance of the game or length of the training session. The minimum time should be 10 minutes. Use a stopwatch throughout the warm-up to make sure you are not working for too long in each section.

Step 2

Complete an initial pulse raiser that meets your requirements; for example, complete a numbered amount of suicides. This exercise should raise your heart rate by around 40 to 50 percent to increase the blood flow around your body and deliver oxygen to your muscles. The minimum time for this exercise is five minutes.

Step 3

Select at least four drills that are skill specific to allow the muscles to start working in the manner that is required during the game/session. This is an essential part to the warm-up to get the body prepared. Drills could include layups, passing drills, dribbling and passing, or round the key shooting practice. Use two basketballs or more to maintain the constant flow of the warm-up.

Step 4

Complete a range of dynamic stretches for the whole body. Examples are calf raises, lunges and hip twists. Each set of stretches should last at least 15 seconds. It is important to maintain your heart rate during the stretching period.

Step 5

Include any team tactics in the last part of the warm-up. When preparing for a game, practice offensive and defensive plays.

Tips and Warnings

Add additional skills as is necessary for yourself or team. Listen to your body and only do as much as is possible.
Make sure you are not injured before performing your warm-up. Drink plenty of fluid before, during and after any exercise.