Cross Training

Cross Training To Develop Your Skills
by Bill Dale

I think it’s important to do things other than just basketball to stay in shape mentally. When you only play one sport or do only one hobby, you have a good chance of becoming bored. Pro athletes call it getting “burnt out”. You do it so much that you stop having fun and your skills aren’t as sharp.

It’s important to keep your mind challenged with new things. These games below might seem a lot different than basketball, but they involve testing your ability to hit a target (like when you are shooting a ball toward the rim). They also involve hand-eye coordination and concentration.

What I'm talking about here is to try different things to develop your skills. Tip: Try playing these games with both hands, not just your dominant hand. Getting good with both hands will help your brain to develop its own “muscle power”, and that means you’ll be able to develop other skills quicker, especially your shooting.

• Air Hockey - This is a great game for developing quick hands and reflexes.
  
  
• Darts - Great for developing concentration, steady hands, and focus.
  
  
• Horseshoes - Sort of like free throws, in that you must use the right amount of arc and distance to place the horseshoe as close to a specific target as possible. Just like free throws, the distance remains the same for every throw, so once you develop a reliable system for "pitching", you can get predictable results.
  
  
• Foosball - Like air hockey, another great game for quick hands and reflexes.
  
  
• Miniature Golf - Steady hands, focus, and shooting at a target.
  
  
• Bowling – Concentration, hitting targets, developing rhythm. Good bowlers have a certain rhythm (just like good free throw shooters). They get comfortable with their ball, get set up in a relaxed stance, focus on their target, and proceed with their shot. Again, a consistent, reliable system will produce predictable results.

These are just a few games you can play to keep your skills sharp. Try as many different things as you can, and you'll gradually build up your concentration and focus abilities as well as your hand-eye coordination. And you'll keep your brain energized.

Copyright © 2004-2006 Bill Dale. Feel free to copy this article for your website, newsletter, or book as long as you give me credit AND include a link to ShootingDrills.com.