Get yourself moving, bumping, and sweating with the warm-up basketball drills. In basketball, a team or any player may always have a slow start or become sloppy in the midway.
Perhaps it’s time to review your pre-game drills and exercise and ensure players are having the right platform to train.
Warmup Basketball Drills are the essentials of basketball. You can not truly be ready for the court unless you have been through the warm-up drills.
Luckily! We are here to guide you through everything about Warmup Drills in Basketball. Stay tuned with us till the end of the article.
About Warmup Basketball Drills
Basketball players have to be in shape and solid physical form to deliver powerful outputs on the court.
Warmup drills prepare players to adapt their bodies to the toughness of practice. The drills mainly focus to release your body and increase your heart rate in order to prevent injury.
Experts say there is a secret to boost up your performance in basketball, and it’s in the warmup basketball drills!
After the drills, when your muscles, joints, and tendons relax, that is when you can ensure a forceful performance both in defense and offense.
Whether you play in offense or defense, it’s about time to bring out the macho player inside you and show the audience what you are truly capable of!
Start here. Check out the X best Warmup Basketball Drills with us.
10+ Best Warmup Basketball Drills
Hundreds of drills are available in basketball. They all serve different purposes and allow you to explore other areas of basketball.
Here’s our collection of 15 Warmup Basketball drills and exercises for you. Train up and prepare hard for your next match with our drills and we wish you luck!
1) High Knees
It involves your hips, glutes muscle, and hamstrings. You have to work on their flexibility while walking on high knees.
Start by lifting your knee high. But ensure you are comfortable too with each step. Now slowly have your chest up and spread the back of your shoulder.
It is a drill for players with motion. Not the running speed but while walking you can perform the high knee drill.
How do high knees help?
The high knee drill improves muscle tolerance, balance, and navigation. When you perform it with high intensity while bounding, it can draw high privilege to your lower body part.
2) Dribbling
In basketball, dribbling is the most fundamental part. Dribbling as a pre-warmup drill can be excellent to boost your practice.
You can go for a 2-1-0 dribble and maximize the court time where you need the basket. Or, do dribblings on the move.
Use your one hand to bounce to repetitively bounce the ball on the court. Dribbling helps you gain better control of the ball, aim better for the hoop and maintain a solid distance between yourself and the defender.
3) Knee Hugs
Similar to high knees, you have to walk straight for knee hugs. Bring your knee to chest level on every step and purposely hold your knees up.
With this warm-up drill, you can break down the inertia of your hips, glutes, and hamstrings muscle by primarily activating them. It also helps to develop your posture and reduce lower back pain in injury.
4) Pass and Move
It is a trial drill before you try out in court. Pass and move helps you improve your offensive strategy and hone your ball-passing skills at the same time.
However, you can not perform the drill alone and need your teammates to follow. Your team will play the offense without any field goal attempts or defense.
With this drill, you can precisely work on your team’s offense, cutting, screening, and spacing essentials. But, this drill has several variations and the first one starts with passing and cutting.
5) Jumping Jacks
It is one of the conditioning drills of basketball; mainly works on the glutes, quadriceps, and hip flexors at the same time.
For basketball coach, it turns out to be an effortless way to train their fellow players. Also, find out players who excel at rebounding. Learn more about rebounding here.
However, while performing this drill, ensure your feet are spread wide apart while your hands almost touching over your head. Repeat this again and again!
6) Ankle Pops
It is what you think! The ultimate goal of this warm-up drill is to genuinely improve your range of each jump throughout. Start by jumping lightly off the toes with your knees slightly bent.
It is a dynamic stretch, mainly developed to shape your ankles and also work on your quadriceps. You can, additionally, work on better coordination and rhythm with Ankel Pops.
7) Over the Fence
Not a sheep count but a defensive drill allowing you to develop a better angle. You can start by facing the opposite direction from your traveling point.
Also, lift your one knee as high as you can. Now, rotate your knee backward as if you are trying to pass over a fence.
Count from 10 to 15 and repeat the move accordingly. Once you are done, start with your alternate leg. Over the Fence helps you to stretch and relax your groin part, hamstrings, and the flexors of the hip.
8) Tight Cone Warm Up
One of the best warmup drills to improve different expertise in basketball. It helps you improve dribbling, shooting, footwork including your finishing strategies. You can also boost up your first step and reduce the rate of injuries with this drill.
Start your workout with the tight cone warmup. It involves dribbling. Dribble through the cone with any kind of dribble pack. Focus on not hitting the cone and land your dribbles between each cone.
In fact, experts find the tight cone drill ideal for different levels of players. The drill helps beginners improve their general dribbling strategies. As for professional basketball players, you can work on different dribble combinations, including finishing tactics.
9) Lunges
We know, lunges are the essentials of our human body. However, in basketball, lunges are one kind of flexible dynamic stretch method.
Not only basketball, but other sports also implement this dynamic warmup. In short, lunges help you imitate your movements essential for running in basketball.
Have your trunk upright by leaping forward, also with both knees bent. Maintain this position and approach forward. Try it with your other leg also.
Reminder: Keep your knees stable during the drill. Most players lose balance when their knees fall inward. A smart trick to prevent this is to have your knee over your foot.
10) Low Lunges
One variation of the Lunge dynamics is the low lunges. Perform the Lunges while you are on the move. And, low lunges are to be done in a stationary position.
As you would do while lunging normally, take a big step forward, and then bend the elbow of the same forward knee toward the inside of your ankle. Standstill in this position for 5-10 seconds.
It’s not over yet! Pass your both hands beside your front foot and have your heel down. Again, take a 5-10 second pause. Once you are done, repeat it with your other leg.
11) Squats
Squatting is a popular form of exercise for anybody! But since we are here to talk about basketball, let’s keep our area of discussion limited.
In basketball, squatting mainly involves mimicking the motion you are going to use in the play. Bend your knees and squat down until your quadriceps are in line to the surface.
Don’t forget to spread your arms as it will help you to remain in balance. Stand back up to repeat the warm-up by leaning your hips forward. Squat helps you to improve your post-chain strength, which includes your gluteal and hips too!
12) Two Spot Jogging and Shooting
It is a pre-practice warm-up. Get yourself in a solid shooting form before the drill.
You will need two more teammates along with you to perform the drill. Take help from your trainer as he will guide you along the way.
Define two shooting spots in the court and align other players by the side of the floor at both ends. Jog up and down, shoot and rebound before passing the ball to finish up the drill.
13) Walking Lunge
Another variation of the lunge drill? Why not! Perform this warmup drill while you are in motion.
You will find many similarities with the two other lunges warmup mentioned earlier. But this one involves rotation of your body. Read to know more.
Bend both of your knees with your trunks upright. Don’t forget to lean forward with one leg while doing so.
After the lunge when your knee is a few inches off the ground, rotate the upper part of your body. Maintain your arms to the shoulder level following the same side of your forward leg.
March forward and repeat for the opposite leg. Always remember to keep a stable knee over your foot. One mistake and it can get you off balance.
14) Swing Forward Leg
It is a team drill, designed to increase blood flow to hamstrings and hip flexors. Gather your teammates and ask them to spread around the court to take a dedicated space against the wall. Take your place too.
Now, put your hand against the wall for support and keep your face straight ahead. Now this drill involves only one leg – the dominant one.
Swing your leg back and forth like a pendulum and remain straight. Initially, keep it slow, but gradually increase the motion as you swing. Continue like this and don’t stop until you complete 20 swings.
15) Glute Walk
The Gluteal in the body is not just one muscle but a group of muscles around the buttock area.
You can already guess it by name, the glute walk revamps your glutes before the play. Start by raising your knee as high as possible and as you are comfortable with.
Sync your left hand with the left knee if you decide to go with your left knee at first. Also, when you do this, your right hand should follow the left ankle.
Bend your knee and bring it towards your chest along with the ankle. Have a step forward and do the same with your other leg.
Here are 15 pre-practice warm up basketball drills for you. Not to mention, there are more! Warmups like arm circles, carioca, and side slides are also highly efficient to prepare your body.
Most of the warmups we have here genuinely involve boosting your physical stamina and improving muscle endurance.
Warmup drills like pass tag, dribble tag, or wall passing significantly help you develop play strategies and defend your team better.
Start here and we will eventually explore other advanced warmup basketball drills.
Learn More Than Warmup Basketball
Are you ready to warm up yourself?
It will only take a little of your time but the results are highly promising to the court.
The primary goal of dynamic warmup basketball drills is to improve your muscle functionality while maintaining the right temperature of your body.
However, overdoing it can be jeopardizing! You may end up putting too much strain on your muscle and reducing performance.
That’s why! Always take advice from your coach and follow his instruction. Take steps slowly and carefully before rushing into warmup basketball drills.
Do you think we are missing out on something? Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know. If you like our article, don’t forget to share it with your friends and other wannabe players.
