A Center's Cardio

Hey what's up everybody, how was Thanksgiving? This weeks post will be on how a center should train there cardiovascular system. First off, without proper cardio stamina a center is worthless. A center could be the strongest player in the league but if he cannot run what good is he?

A center should ideally train their cardio every day or every other day. I personally alternate cardio and strength training everyday. To increase their running capabilities there are two major things to be done- running and sprinting. Running will increase their overall stamina and sprinting increases the center's ability to bolt up and down the court if needed.

A center should first run the track at a continual fast paced jog to see how far they can run until their body quits on them. Once the center has found their base length and speed they need to build on it. Keep jogging at the same fast pace, but slowly build up how far they can run maintaining that speed. I personally shoot to increase a quarter mile every week while maintaining the same pace. Some center's will either progress faster or slower depending on their condition, but having an incremental goal is key.

Sprinting is another aspect needed to be an affective center. Being able to burst to the open spot on the court for a rebound or shot will help the team out every time. In order to build this aspect go to a track or measure out 40 meters. Once a leg of 40 meters has been measured out the center must get a stop watch and a friend. A stopwatch can help measure how much time it takes to sprint the 40m. and a friend is there to help build some competition. The center and the friend can compete to see who has the fastest time and keep an ongoing tally. Do as many sprints as possible until your legs are spent and that's the sprinting aspect.

40 meter dash

When I workout I combine these workouts by running first and sprinting after until I burnout. That way I work on my stamina and overall speed.

How a Center Should Train

Hey what's going on everybody! This weeks post will be on what center's need to be good at, and how they should strength train to do so. First off, the site below I believe writes about everything a center needs to have in order to be effective in the game.         http://www.mademan.com/mm/how-train-basketball-center.html

In order to be physically effective a center must have strength. A center's strength should be in their legs. It is the center's legs which allows them to push anyone out of the paint and jump. To get strong legs a center should do squats or use a RAM sled to build up their quads. They should try to do more than their body weight in order to quickly build up strength. Next, a center should have strong calves in order to improve their jumping ability. Calves are naturally very strong so one should be able to throw up a lot of weight.

Next, a center should build up their chest and arms. To strengthen the chest, a center should do bench and do push ups. Benching will tear the chest up, and push ups done right after will exhaust one's chest. For arms a center should focus on triceps and forearms. Biceps and shoulders will also help but triceps and forearms are most used. For triceps I would do tricep dips using your own body weight. This will tear up your triceps, increasing strength. With strong triceps a center will be able to increase his range. Forearms are mainly used to have a tight grip on the ball so it won't be poked out. For this, a center should do reverse curls.

 

The final aspect a center has to build up is their core. This will help increase their jump height. To do this a center must do a variety of ab exercises. Ab crunches, leg raises, and oblique raises are the most common.

All exercises should be done in 4 sets of 10 repetitions each. This will make strong, lean muscles with a lot of stamina

Lanky Center vs. Big Team

Hey how's it going everybody? This weeks post will be about how a team with a lanky center (Team A) should compete against a big team (Team B). The key to victory for Team A will be speed.

 To best Team B, Team A must hustle the ball up and down the court all game long. Fast breaks will lead to easy lay ups and wear Team B down quickly. Since Team B is bigger, Team A should resort to shooting and quick passes down low. Any player on the team with a decent shot should shoot if they are open. This will help to draw the defense out of the paint, opening it up slightly. After several shots have been hit the center should begin to look to pass. His teammates should be sneaking into the gaps down low behind the center, who should be drawn out a bit to try and prevent open shots. A quick bounce pass to the open man will lead to an easy two points. A combination of shooting and passing down low will lead to Team B's defensive break down, resulting in many scoring opportunities.

                         Jimmer's 3 point shot, leading to 3 points and a wide open key for a possible pass

Defensively, Team A must keep the ball out of Team B's hands in the paint. A 2-3 zone will help clog up the paint making it harder for the center to do his post moves because he will turn into defenders on both sides of himself. If Team A can clog up the paint and cheat the passing lanes that will take away many of Team B's scoring opportunities. The only thing left to do is rebound. If Team B gets countless offensive boards you can guarantee it will be a close game. Granted Team B will get rebounds due to their size, Team A has to try their best to box out and really jump for the ball. If Team A can clog up the zone, cheat the passing lanes, and try their best to rebound the game should be theirs for the taking.

    Triangles represent the defense. The 2-3 zone clogs up the paint, leaving the outside open for shooting,                                                                  which  is no help to a larger team.

In order for Team A to win this game their center will not be their focus because he is outsized. They must shoot and pass the ball well to create scoring opportunities for themselves. On defense Team A must play a 2-3 zone, cheat the passing lanes, and try their best to rebound over Team B. This game should not be an intensely physical game, but if Team A can't hit their shots it certainly will be a grind out game.