What are the Different Types of Training Basketballs?

One of the most well-known sports in the world is basketball, and its popularity is mainly attributed to how exciting it is to play and watch. While playing basketball is surely fun, learning how to play it can be quite challenging at first and could often take away the fun of playing the sport. Learning to play basketball is challenging because there are many rules to the sport, and properly handling the ball on the court can also be quite difficult to do.

Fortunately, there are already plenty of training basketballs that you can use to train yourself on how to dribble the ball efficiently and to also shoot the ball with better precision. Here are the different types of training basketballs to help you learn the sport and improve your skills.

Weighted Basketball

The weighted basketball is the type of training ball that is usually two times heavier than a regular basketball. The extra weight of this training ball can help develop hand and forearm strength, which is essential if you want to get faster and more efficient dribbling skills. Dribbling is arguably one of the skills that are very difficult to improve, as you really have to train your hands and arms for better muscle memory while keeping your eyes away from the ball and getting them to be more focused on what is happening on the basketball court.

With weighted basketballs, you can develop muscle memory on your dribbling faster. In addition to dribbling, you can also develop your passing skills with a weighted basketball, as it can train you to put more force on your passing and thus develop a faster way to pass the basketball to a teammate without letting it get stolen by the opposing team.

Small Training Basketball

training with a basketball

Weighted basketballs come in different sizes, and the one that a lot of players use to train their ball control is the small training basketball. As the name already suggests, the small training basketball is much smaller compared to the regular basketballs that are used in the NBA. Because of how small the training ball is, it will force you to control it better whenever you are dribbling it from one hand to another.

Through small training balls, you will have better control of the ball, which would then allow you to dribble, pass, and shoot the ball with better accuracy. If you want to hasten the improvement of your ball handling skills, you can try dribbling two small training balls at the same time and pass them from one hand to another.

Shooting Basketball

proper basketball shooting form

If you are a newbie or beginner that wants to learn the basic mechanics of shooting a basketball, you should check out the shooting ball, also known as the shooter’s basketball. The shooter’s basketball is a type of training ball that is specifically used for shooting, as there are specific marks or lines on the ball that will teach you where to put your hands on the ball and how to release the ball properly once you are already in the act of shooting.

The shooter’s basketball can be bought in various online shops and sporting goods stores, although it is often rarer than the regular training ball because it doesn’t really have versatility. You can already learn the mechanics of shooting without a shooter’s basketball, but if you want to train your hands to stay in the correct places or positions, then you should try the shooter’s basketball. Try this type of training ball to develop your consistency in shooting.

Hands-On Basketball

Another great training basketball for beginners is the hands-on basketball, which is similar to the shooting basketball because it has marks where you should place your hands, but instead of only the shooting position, the hands-on basketball would indicate where you should place your hands when dribbling or passing.

Most of the hands-on basketballs available today are junior size, which means that they are about 25% smaller than regular basketballs but are still a bit bigger than small training balls. Junior-sized basketball is more suitable for children, so if you have kids like cousins or siblings that want to practice basketball with you, you should give them the hands-on basketball.

Regular Basketball

Once you have improved your skills using various training basketball, you should then apply those improvements on a regular basketball, which would sometimes feel significantly different from training balls. Regular basketball can be quite difficult to handle or control since its surface, and its weight can sometimes be unforgiving, but with the help of training balls, your handling and command of the regular basketball will significantly improve.

Once you are done practicing various skills using training balls, you should get back to using a regular basketball for a few minutes so that you will train your hand and arms muscles to memorize the feel of the basketball that you will use when actually playing a game.

Smart Basketball

In today’s era, there are already a lot of smart devices and items that you can buy, and these devices are called “smart” because they can be connected to a smartphone or computer and can then be utilized to track your progress in specific tasks. If you are training for basketball, there is a smart ball that you can buy that is designed to track your improvements in various basketball skills while training.

Smart basketballs can track not only your improvements in dribbling but also your shooting statistics like field goal percentage and misses. You can then upload your stats or training data on a connected app and then share your goals and accomplishments through social media or with your friends that also use the smart basketball. If you want to learn different training routines for basketball, the smart ball would also give you various drills and workouts that you can follow to improve your skills in the sport.

And these are the different types of basketballs that you can use for training. While you can already train with just a regular basketball, we highly recommend that you try the other types of balls we have mentioned above so that you can enhance your skills faster and with better efficiency.