Basketball Balance Training For Court Performance and Injury Prevention

Good balance is essential to success on the basketball court. As a basketball athlete, you've chosen a sport that requires an abundance of unbalanced movements—like perimeter defense, contested jump shots and twisting actions under the boards—all of which must be executed quickly in limited space. And as the game intensifies, so does the need for acceleration and sudden changes of direction.

For years, balance training has been used for basketball injury prevention and rehabilitation. But recently, it has also become popular as a supplementary workout. (NBA great Kevin Durant does it.) Training on an unstable platform can increase an athlete's proprioception, muscular strength and overall balance. Take your game to the next level with these basketball balance training exercises.

Balance Training Tips

• Keep your shoes off during the drills
• Look forward at a fixed point to maintain control
• Keep your spine neutral
• Restart if you begin to lose balance
• During the single leg balance drill, start with the foot opposite your dominant one

Balance Training Drills

Kneeling Hold on Balance Ball

Sets/Reps: 4x30 seconds

• Hold basketball in front of chest and kneel on physioball
• Roll forward on physioball
• Use a narrow leg position and elevate for tall posture control. Maintain balance

Double Leg Balance and Chest Pass

Sets/Reps: 3x20 passes

• Place feet in athletic position on disks pillows
• From this position, pass ball to partner
• Maintain balance

Single-Leg Balancing

Sets/Reps: 3x20 each leg

• Place one foot in athletic position disk pillow
• Dribble 20 times while maintaining balance