Some people say that if you want to become the best player you need to use the best equipment. Is this true? Eh not necessarily. However, having good equipment could absolutely help. With that being said you need to find the right stuff to use. So now you’re looking for a product to increase your basketball skills, how do you find it? If you look on the web there are hundreds of different options, so how do you know which one to pick? Well luckily you have come to the right place and have a basketball expert who has personal knowledge and experience with best products. Below I review my top recommendations.

SKLZ Official Weight Control Training Basketball is a great basic product you can get and has multiple uses. This is a basketball that is regulation size and costs between thirty and forty dollars. The difference between this basketball and a normal one is the weight. This basketball weight more than a normal basketball. On the court we just called these “heavy balls” and they really were heavy. The benefits of this product are that they increase the amount of work needed to move the ball. When dribbling the ball it forces the player to push harder, which increases muscle memory. It can also be used for passing drills. This will make passes with a normal ball faster. After using this ball for 30 minutes, when you grab a normal basketball it will actually feel like a feather. You will find dribbling and passing to be extremely easy. It is a great product for high school players and up who are looking for a competitive advantage.

The “Shooter” Ring is a great product for increasing a players shooting percentage. Most people would agree that it might be hard enough to get the ball in the hoop, by this attachment really makes the rim smaller. This increases the accuracy needed to make a shot. This is good to use during any type of shooting drill, we usually used it for anything but layups and it was pretty impressive when people made baskets, because it was really hard to make. Another use you can get from the “Shooter” Ring is actually for rebounding drills. Due to the small amount of make shots, it creates a perfect environment for working on rebounds. The ball will always bounce in a pretty unpredictable manor and makes the players really work on their boxing out skills if they want to get the rebound.

SKLZ Kick-Out 360 Degree Ball Return System is another great product to help young players work on their shooting. I have use a various of this product but I have not used this exact one. However, their purposes are essentially the same. This attaches to the rim and creates a chute that the ball can roll down so you do not need to get your own rebound. It is easy to install and they are usually durable enough to last a few seasons. My family put ours on a basketball hoops outside and left it on their for about a year and it cause no problems what so ever. So I would say these are good products that you can plan on using for awhile. The most beneficial part of this product, to me, is that it makes shooting hoops by yourself a lot easier. With the Kick Out you are able to get up a lot more shots in a shorter period of time because you are not chasing down all of your shots they just come straight back to you. Plus, this one is adaptable so it can give you rebounds in a direction you set it to.

The Shoot Sleeve – this last product recommendation is not a product that is used in practice. This is an equipment recommendation. The shooting sleeve has become a very common piece of equipment that is worn by players of all ages. I know a lot of people who criticized the sleeve but once they actually tried it on they found that they enjoyed it and no longer liked playing without one. The first benefit is that it compresses your arm muscles. This is good for keeping your muscles warm and ready to go. With arms that are ready and warm you will possible have a better time shooting, dribbling and passing the basketball. The sleeves also can come with padding on the elbow. This is helpful to the player so they do not hurt that part of the body, and honestly if someone accidentally hit another player with an elbow, getting hit with a padded elbow would be way more preferred (at least in my opinion) Also, I have had teammates who like wearing it strictly because they think it looks cool and makes them feel good. And you know how the saying good “Look good, Feel good, Play good.” As silly as it may sound I personally think it is a completely understandable reason. Some players wear one, some players wear two, some even wear leg sleeves. It is all up to the preference of the player. Another equipment recommendation I would have is ankle braces. I didn’t wear these for the longest time until… yeah you guessed it, I hurt my ankle. This injury really set me back and I wish I was wearing the braces because I never would have been in that situation if I did. When it comes to buying the right ones, I recommend going to a sporting store and talking to someone there who sells them day in and day out. They will have the most information on what is new and what people are buying.

Overall, there are a lot of great basketball products out there right now. And I am sure they will get even better and more effective as time goes on. Before buying a product make sure you do you research and find a product that will fit you specific basketball needs. Either way, just make sure you are working hard and having fun while you do it!

Source by Jackson Buckley