| I get asked this quest a lot, all the time really. It's about | | | | way to do that, is to practice. Do it over and over and |
| the mechanics of practice, the scheduling. The question | | | | over until it becomes second nature. Do it until you can |
| is this, what's the best about of time to practice, and | | | | do it without even thinking about it because I promise |
| do I have to do it all at once? | | | | you, when the game is on the line, you won't have time |
| That's a really great question and one I want to | | | | to think about it, your muscle memory has to take over |
| answer in detail within this article. | | | | on its own. |
| First of all, how many hour should you practice each | | | | The only way to do that is by practicing on your own. |
| day? I'm talking about during the off season. During the | | | | You don't have to do it all at once though. During the |
| regular basketball season you will of course be | | | | school year, (but not during basketball season) I would |
| practicing two to three hours a day with your team | | | | come home from school at around 3:30 and practice |
| and you may or may not find any extra time to | | | | for two hours, till around 5:30. Then I would go inside |
| practice. | | | | and eat dinner with my family. At around six o'clock or |
| But during the off season, your schedule is wide open. | | | | so, I would head back out and get another two hours |
| It's good to have a set routine when it comes to | | | | in. |
| practicing. But first, back to the question of how many | | | | Voila, four hours of workout every day, but it was |
| hours. | | | | broken up into two nice and manageable chunks that |
| This depends. I used to practice for four hours a day. | | | | anyone can handle. When I was done around eight |
| But that was just me. If you practice more, you will | | | | o'clock, that gave me time to do any homework I |
| have better results. If you practice less, you will have | | | | might have had to do. |
| less results. | | | | Granted, it didn't leave a lot of time to watch tv, play |
| Basketball skill is a direct function of time spent | | | | video games, or go online. Well actually, we didn't have |
| practicing. Why is that? Because basketball, like many | | | | the Internet back then, but it wouldn't have mattered. |
| sports and even many musical instruments, is all about | | | | How long you work out your game is totally up to you. |
| repetition. You have to train the muscles in your arm to | | | | But people like Michael Jordan practiced for eight to |
| release the ball at a certain velocity and arch every | | | | twelve hours every day when they were young. |
| single time. | | | | There's no way around it. So if you want to be great, |
| And the only way to do that, and I mean the ONLY | | | | you have to work out. Period. |