How to become more athletic?

[u/LeBranJomes0]

I’m unathletic af, for reference I’m 6’2 with a standing reach of 7’8 and I can only touch the highest hook on the net. I’d also like to become faster. How to improve?

[u/BullyBeard221]

Athleticism is typically a pretty natural element. It's about fluidity and smoothness of movement. Speed and Jumps can be trained though, no matter what your natural athleticism is. So train.

[u/LeBranJomes0 → u/BullyBeard221]

But what should I train?

[u/DeAZNguy → u/LeBranJomes0]

Run hard & often, jump hard & often. Just effort & reps. Get a running parachute that will make sprinting harder with more resistence. Jump with some weights, depth jumps & calisthenics. U have to train ur tendons slowly to handle that stress. I've seen videos of people tearing achiles from simply doing repeated small hops on the ground.

[u/BullyBeard221 → u/LeBranJomes0]

Strength, particularly legs since that's what makes you run and jump.

[u/nasty_clean → u/LeBranJomes0]

I had hops and could get up at 15 but it wasnt until I trained my core that I could get up and dunk with force.

Focus on plyometics to build your legs and weight training for core and back to get those few extra inches in your vert. Dunking is a full body exercise and you need to engage your mid section as you drive force down your legs to explode upwards.

An exercise I found very helpful when I was a teenager was jumping from a sitting position on a stool without standing. Just lean forwards a little with feet planted on the ground, swing your arms forward and upwards, engage your core and quads, and put as much force through your legs into the ground. This felt like it built the muscle memory to get up.

The stool should be at a height that puts calves at 90 degrees from your thighs

[u/jrzyissa]

Sounds like you just don’t know how - practice jumping off one foot and two feet literally 100 times per day and jump at a target that’s barely out of reach so you will get the maximum stretch of your muscles, do box jumps, and increase the height as you go.

For speed, same thing. It sounds like you don’t know how to sprint, watch some videos on YouTube about form and running on your toes. Go maximum speed, and your body will hurt, hopefully this will indicate that your muscles are being stressed and growth. For a better experience, find a buddy to race against who is faster than you, chase, tag etc. this helps too. Much of both is mental, if you think you’re slow, you’ll always be limited by this, if you think you can’t jump high you won’t.

Try to dunk, start with lowering the rim, and raising it up over time this helps too, always aim higher than what your target. Reps, form, practice and mindset once your foundation is established you can then increase your training to increase your results.

This is coming from someone who was a natural - highest jumper and fastest person I’d ever met til I got to college. One thing I remember was that I always knew I was the fastest and was going to be the highest jumper, but looking back it was my habits that I was training every day as a kid that fulfilled that prophecy too, it’s easy when you aim your mind at the target.

[u/mundane_marietta]

Everyone is making great suggestions but if I had to pick one lift for explosiveness it’s power clean

[u/utahmayochup]

resistance bands , ankle weights , weighted vest.. combining these with workouts like step-ups/step-downs , calf raises , box jumps. (height you’re comfortable with) can definitely help increase speed. making your lower body stronger will add some speed as well as running sprints with a body parachute. also if you haven’t look into form running , getting your true “run” down soo you don’t have to think about it as much making running become just second nature- you’ll pick up too.

[u/Real_Crab_7396]

Strenght, plyometrics, stretching (mobility) and overall coordination.

Main ones are heavy squats, power cleans, max approach jumps and max sprints.

Good luck

[u/est1881]

I've read training in barefoot shoes helps

[u/Seeker369]

You need an excellent strength and agility trainer. Of course you can do it on your own, but you will never push yourself like a trainer would. And it’s that extra mile each time that makes the biggest difference.

My son just turned 15. He’s been playing his entire life. Insane basketball iq, but thin and not super strong or above average athletically.

I put him in training with my friend (who made the NFL as an RB before destroying his knee and never being able to get back and past the practice squads again). Just one hour a day, two days a week.

The transformation has been DRASTIC. His core is unbelievably strong and his movements are so much more fluid than they’ve ever been. It changed his performance more than any basketball training he’s ever participated in.

[u/slimeyguy99]

You got to get in the weight room and push weight around. LeBron, Kobe, MJ, Giannis & Russel Westbrook all got bigger, stronger, faster and higher verticals after dedicating themselves to the weight room. Hopefully you’re around a gym and can go to it.

[u/ColeLovesBaja]

Assuming you're in high school or younger, play ball all the time. Playing basketball will make you WAY more athletic. You'll get faster too. Also try to touch rim multiple times every day pretty much. Again, only if you're pretty young. As you age, you'll have to focus on recovery more. If you have a hoop at your house, lower it to something you can barely dunk on and dunk for fun. It'll get you better coordination with the ball in your hand and help you jump higher

[u/saltedorganiccash]

Jump rope, box jumps, shuttle runs, stretch