The Pad

The pad itself weighs only about a couple pounds, and comes with a couple of straps on the back to hold it. The foam is solid but has give so it can simulate running into or posting up against another player. The outside is a leather/vinyl surface that has held up really well so far.

Basketball Blocking Pad Drills

There are a variety of drills which I run with the blocking pad. They are:

• Layup contact drill. This is where I initiate contact with the pad while the player is driving for a layup
• Post up drill. This is where the player posts up against the pad and does a move.
• Shooting through contact down low

These are mainly designed to allow the player to finish shots when being fouled or pushed when shooting. One thing to note is when you’re doing this, don’t always make contact. By faking contact, you also provide helpful training where the person thinks they’re going to be fouled.

Where to buy?

To be honest, there are a lot of different brands besides Pro Down which will work. For instance, this one on Amazon is affordable and has really good ratings:

GoSports Blocking Pad

Anything like this one or similar will work. The Pro Down one is harder to find online, I believe I bought it at a sporting goods store one time (don’t remember which one).

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Heating

It can get really cold in the winter in a lot of places. First thing you’re going to need is some heat. But before you have heat, you probably need to have your building insulated, that will make a bigger difference than anything else. Before my building was insulated, it would get to a point where it couldn’t get any warmer no matter how long I kept the heaters on. After that though, I could heat up the building pretty well in about an hour with 13,500 watts of heat.

The main two heaters I used are 5,000 watt electric heaters from Cadet. I put one on each side of the main hoop and blew the air into the center of the court. It works really well during the winter. I have a video of it below:

I bought them from Amazon. I included an Amazon affiliate link below to them:

Cadet Hot One 5000w Heater

I’ve had them in place for over 2 years without a single issue. I run them at full power.

Humidity Issues

If you live in a humid climate like Florida or the midwest, humidity can be a real problem inside sheds. The problem is that the humidity gets ‘trapped’ inside, causing it to rust or corrode all metal inside the shed. How your shed is built can also have an effect. When mine was built, they forgot to put in a vapor barrier under the concrete, so I would get condensation sometimes on the concrete (not great). They also forgot to open up the attic ventilation as well, leading to a lack of air movement inside.

To combat these issues, I bought a dehumidifier to see if would really help the issue. It instantly made a huge difference. Previously, it felt like a sauna inside the shed with all the heat and humidity during the summer. With the dehumidifier going, it was still warm but not the humid type heat that really stinks.

I run it later in the spring and summer when the rain starts to fall and the humidity rises. I typically don’t run it all during the winter, and the fall is usually dry enough that I don’t have to use it either.

I made a video showing how I use it below:

I believe I bought it Home Depot, but it’s also available through my Amazon affiliate link below:

GE Dehumidifier with Pump

Make sure you get the pump, otherwise you’ll constantly be dumping water out of it (not fun). There are two models that look almost identical, one with the pump and hose, the other without, so make sure you get the one appropriate for you.

The post Heating and Humidity for your Basketball Court appeared first on Master Basketball.

Setting DribbleUp Basketball Up

It’s a pretty easy process to get the whole thing working. Basically you:

• create an account on a computer (for some reason you can’t do from the app which is annoying)
• download the app
• log into the app. Either sign up for the monthly classes (first month is like 99 cents) or use the included drills (I highly recommend the classes, much more indepth)
• put the tablet or phone on the stand and start dribbling!

It will say though that the height of stand is not ideal. It’s great for tracking the ball but not so great for watching the action honestly. The height makes sense for soccer when you’re looking at your feet. I’ve got a video below which shows it in action during a class:

Basketball Feel

How does the basketball feel? Well, it kind of feels a little heavier than a normal ball, and doesn’t quite bounce as good as like a Wilson Evolution basketball. It just something to get used to, and as you can see in the video, after a while it doesn’t slow you down at all.

Classes

The coolest thing about this whole deal is the fact that you can take live or recorded classes from a variety of instructors who also measure your performance. You can go through the drills, and after every class you can see how you stacked up compared to everyone else in the class. I’m sure there are a few people who might be ‘cheating’ to get to the very top, but you can kind of see where the actual top performers are (which gives a good goal to shoot for).

They have beginner and advanced classes, along with freestyle and classes which also focus on specific hands. My son likes the advanced and freestyle classes the best, the beginner ones are too easy for him. The videos in this article are from the advanced class, here’s another example below:

Would I recommend the DribbleUp Basketball?

Absolutely, if your child is motivated at all and has time. If they’re in practice all the time, it might be too much. But if they have a lot of free time in the off-season or after school, it’s a great 15 minute add on to do. Each class is 10 to 20 minutes, so not too much of a time sink. I’m sure they messed around with different lengths till they determined that was the optimal length. Cost is around $10 a month, so not too bad IF you use it quite a bit. Like I would probably discontinue it during the season, but then re-enable it during the offseason.

The post DribbleUp Smart Basketball Review appeared first on Master Basketball.

Everyday Use

Most people are using them just for basketball and nothing else. That’s understandable considering how expensive they are. They aren’t cheap at all.

For years I’ve worn the cheapest shoes possible. Like whatever I could get in size 14 (which isn’t much most of the time) and then getting the cheapest pair that wasn’t super ugly. That was great for a while, but then I started developing foot issues as I’ve gotten older.

Right below my pinky toe on the bottom of my foot I would get really bad hard skin buildup. At first I thought it was my foot and age causing the issue, then I realized it was because of my shoes.

I bought another pair of cheap shoes, and the problem went away for a little while, then came back (literally wore spots in the bottom of the shoes in the exact spots my hard skin was). Shoes just weren’t good enough quality to stop it from coming back.

Then by chance a couple years ago, I got a pair of Lebron 15’s for Christmas. My kids had been getting good shoes for years, and my oldest son said I needed to “stop wearing ugly shoes and get some Lebron’s”.

Instantly, the shoes made my feet feel better. I hadn’t had a good pair of shoes on in 20 years (since high school) and I couldn’t believe what a difference it made in everyday use. Suddenly my elliptical machine rides were way more comfortable.

Extended Use

After my Lebron 15’s wore out, I temporarily went back to a cheap pair of shoes, thinking my feet problems were gone…they came right back. Ordered Lebron 16’s right away, problem went away again. There is no doubt, wearing these shoes can help with foot problems like mine. I wear mine everyday for work, working out, shooting around with my kids, etc, no pain. I’m always trying to stretch a dollar and I think previously I was doing it at the expense of my health. No longer will I be buying cheaper shoes.

There is one funny thing for Dad’s out there, nobody has ever said anything about my shoes since I was in high school and had a pair of the original reebok pump shoes. These shoes though, I had all kinds of kids ages 10 to 14 complimenting me on them, lol. It was a pretty weird feeling, but cool. So you can be in style with these too. I look professional now when I’m shooting around with the kids on my Shoot-A-Way 10k Basketball Shooting Machine.

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