25 individual goals for basketball players, from free throws to defence

Basketball shooting goals

Shooting goals count makes, not attempts, because a make is the thing you are training.

• Make 70 free throws out of 100.
• Make 10 free throws in a row.
• Make 500 shots a week for 8 weeks.
• Make 10 threes from each of 5 spots in one session.
• Hold your follow through on every shot for a whole workout.

Ball handling and passing goals

Handling goals are daily and small, and your weak hand is where most of them should point.

• Do 15 minutes of dribbling drills a day for 30 days.
• Dribble 10 lengths of the court with your weak hand only.
• Make 100 weak hand layups a week.
• Dribble two balls at once for 60 seconds without losing one.
• Keep turnovers under 2 a game for 5 games.

Defence and rebounding goals

Defensive goals are effort habits, which makes them the most controllable goals in the game.

• Box out on every shot for a full game, checked on video.
• Talk on every defensive possession for a full game.
• Slide in a defensive stance for 60 seconds, 5 times, at every practice.
• Sprint back on defence after every change of possession for a full game.
• Average 5 rebounds a game across a season.

Fitness and jumping goals

Fitness goals are built in the off season. Jumping higher is a goal you share with the players in volleyball goals.

• Add 5 cm to your vertical jump in 12 weeks.
• Skip rope for 10 minutes a day for 30 days.
• Do 2 leg strength sessions a week through the off season.
• Pass the team conditioning test on the first try.
• Play a full scrimmage without asking for a sub.

Practice and season goals

Season goals are counts of work done. The same idea runs through every team sport, including these goals for soccer players.

• Attend every practice of the season.
• Make 10,000 shots in an off season. That is 100 a day for 100 days.
• Watch the video of every game within 2 days.
• Make 100 free throws a day for 30 days.
• Make the team, or the starting five.

What are good goals for basketball players?

Good goals for basketball players are about what you do on your own, not about the scoreboard. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, the ones about how you carry out a skill, had the largest effect on performance (1.36). Goals about results against others had almost none (0.09).

Count makes, not minutes in the gym. A review of sports studies found that deliberate practice explained 18 percent of the differences in performance, so what you do in the hour counts as well as the hour. "500 made shots this week" is a sharper goal than "shoot every day".

Write it the way SMART goals are written: "Make 70 of 100 free throws by the first game, shooting 100 after every practice." A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals beat being told to do your best.

How to track basketball goals

Write down your makes before you leave the gym. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that recording it beat keeping it in your head.

Made shots are an amount that adds up toward a total. Workouts are a day count, the same shape as most 30 day challenge ideas.

Ten thousand makes is hard to picture. A picture that fills up 100 makes at a time shows how far through the summer you are.

Frequently asked questions

What are individual goals for a basketball player?

Make 70 free throws out of 100. Make 100 weak hand layups a week. Box out on every shot for a full game. Attend every practice. Each one depends on you, not on your minutes or your teammates.

What are SMART goals for basketball players?

Goals with a number and a date. For example: make 70 of 100 free throws by the first game of the season, shooting 100 after every practice. It says what, how many, by when and how.

Should my goal be points per game?

Keep it as a hope, not as your main goal. Points depend on minutes, plays and teammates. Made shots in practice, turnovers and box outs are yours, and in a review of 27 studies goals like those had the largest effect on performance.