If there’s one question I get asked over and over again, really all the time, it’s this: Where should I practice basketball?
That’s a tough question for a number of reasons that I’ll address later in this article. For now, I will just say that it is something to talk about because it is very important for the development of basketball. So I am going to answer that question today in this article.
Where you practice is very important for many reasons. First, you play best where you practice the most. They call this “Home Court Advantage” and it’s a very, very real phenomenon.
Another reason this is so important is a bit more sinister. I know a guy who used to practice for hours a day at three points in his backyard. Back there, he could sink anything under the sun with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back (I actually saw him do that many times!). But when he got to school, he couldn’t hit anything. What was that for? You wouldn’t expect to see such a dramatic difference between two spots, but this kid barely made the team when it came time to try out as a rookie.
What happened? Her backyard court was crazy. His basket was a half to a full inch higher than it should have been and the basketball he used was filled with too much air. These two simple things, things that could happen to literally anyone, were enough to ruin his game when he finally set foot on a real gym floor.
So where you practice is vitally important. We see this all the time. In the park or on a makeshift court on a city side street, you might totally dominate. But if things go wrong, if the hoop is too high or too short (as it often is), you develop unbreakable bad habits and reinforce them the more you practice under those circumstances.
So what can you do about it? Well, the best thing you can do is practice as much as possible on the court where your team will be playing during the season. Usually this is a high school or junior high school gym. Many schools offer “open gym” time where you can drop in and shoot to your heart’s content. I suggest you do this whenever possible, for as long as possible. If not available, be sure to measure your home or park courts with a tape measure to ensure the edging is ten feet high. Also be sure to check the distance to the free throw line and the distance to the three-point line. These are often painted carelessly or not painted at all.
Developing bad habits is a terrible thing, and it’s a real shame when you put in hours of work to practice only to find out that your practice was really harmful because you practiced in a bad place.