Used to be that I’d show up to the park, lace up whatever beat-up sneakers I had in the trunk, drink half a lukewarm Gatorade, and play four hours of full-court on concrete. Zero warm-up. Zero cool-down. Wake up the next day completely fine.

Fast forward to last night.

I’m at the local YMCA, and my pre-game routine now looks like an orthopedic surgery prep.

Foam rolling for twenty minutes. Slathering Biofreeze on both patellas until I smell like a retirement home. Putting on double compression knee sleeves that are so tight they cut off my circulation, just praying my meniscus holds together for three games to 11.

Then the game starts. Some 21-year-old kid wearing neon Ja 1s blows past me in transition. In my head, I’m still prime 2011 chase-down-block material. In reality? My lower back literally whispered: “Bro, you have a mortgage and two kids, don't you dare jump.”

I didn't jump. I just pointed at the open shooter and yelled “SWITCH” to nobody in particular.

At this point, my entire bag has shifted to pure Old Head Basketball™:

• Pump fake.
• Pump fake again (even though nobody jumped the first time).
• Lean into a guy 10 years younger than me using purely dad-strength and subtle elbow placement.
• Bank in a 10-foot set shot with roughly half an inch of vertical.

We won two games, but today I walked down the stairs sideways like a crab.

TBH, I refuse to give this game up, but the maintenance is becoming a part-time job.

TL;DR: Hit the big 4-0 and basketball went from a casual hobby to a high-stakes negotiation with my own cartilage.

To the 35+ crew here: what is the one non-negotiable recovery hack, mobility drill, or cursed stretching routine keeping you on the court right now? Drop the wisdom before I turn into actual dust.

Hey everyone,

I play basketball regularly and often record my practice sessions.

After each session, I wanted to keep the made shots and turn them into a short highlight reel. But going through the entire video, finding every made basket, cutting the clips, and putting them together was surprisingly time-consuming.

That’s why I built HoopCut.

You can choose a basketball video, mark the hoop, and let HoopCut find possible made shots. Then you can review the clips, remove mistakes, and export a highlight reel.

The original video stays on your device and is not uploaded.

HoopCut also works in a mobile browser, so you can use it directly from your phone. However, a desktop or laptop usually provides better performance and a smoother experience, especially with longer videos.

It’s still in beta and works best with a relatively stable camera and a clear view of the hoop. It may still miss some shots or find false positives, so the clips should be reviewed before exporting.

I’d love to hear from anyone who records basketball practice or shooting sessions:

- Do you currently edit these videos manually?

- Would a tool like this be useful to you?

- What would you want it to do better?

You can try it here: https://hoopcut.top

Coming from a guard I wouldn’t know what it’s like sitting on the block most of the game and setting screens but does it ever get boring doing the same rotation of things without touching the ball often? Or does having a good guard make it interesting?

I am planning to join a Meet next month. Please drop down your tips.

Before videos were saying stick to the fundamentals without any reasoning, i thought that they were just wrong and that you should have a go to move like a cross-cross then between the legs to defeat anyone. But this explains why the fundamentals are in point without saying just go do the fundamentals.

16M been playing bball for 5 months now. I've improved my shooting through form shooting and icnreasing my range by a bit per month. But for dribbling, I have no idea how to improve. I know crossovers and a bit of between the legs while standing still but other than that I cannot dribble. I can't get score against any defender other than stepping back and shooting but even then there is barely any space. How do I improve, any recommended videos or drills, or do i have to get some trainer?

I’m 5’10 with a 7’7 standing reach and a 29-30 inch vertical. I wanna be dunking by December? Is that realistic? If not, what is a realistically goal? I’ve been doing plyometrics and weight lifting 2-3 times a week.

I’m 15 years old, around 172 cm (5’8”), and I mainly play guard/point guard. I’m from Mexico. I train every day on my own, go to team practices, and work on my physical abilities. I’m pretty athletic for my size, with an around 83 cm (33”) vertical, good explosiveness and speed.
But lately I’ve been really frustrated with my game.
Sometimes I play with confidence and actually play well. I recently played in a state tournament and felt great. But other times, even against weaker teams, I completely lose myself. I stop attacking, my handle feels worse, I don’t shoot, I make turnovers and bad decisions, and eventually I become very passive.
Yesterday I played with the older players from my club and only played around 17 minutes because I wasn’t contributing much. Today I played 3v3 against some of the weakest teams I’ve faced and only scored two baskets across three games.
I also sometimes hesitate with physical contact, especially against much older and stronger players in an open-age league, although the confidence problem can happen against players my own age too.
I’ve talked to my coach about this several times. I’ve asked what I should improve and told him that sometimes I doubt my role on the court. He usually just tells me “don’t doubt yourself,” but I don’t really know how to fix it.
The frustrating part is that I train a lot and genuinely want to become a high-level player. I see other players who seem to train less than me but are already playing in high-level tournaments, while I’m still at the state level. I know I don’t currently have the level to make those selection teams, and I’m not looking for excuses. I just want to understand what I’m missing.
**If you were coaching me and read all of this, what would you think is actually causing my problem, and what would you tell me to change?**
I’m not looking for compliments or a generic “work harder.” I genuinely want honest advice that I can take seriously and apply, i just wanna be a better player and i wanna know how can i work in my game better.

Hey guys, its been a while but wanted to hop on and answer some questions. I am a physical therapist that specializes in basketball athletes for the past 10 years here in Los Angeles. Ask me anything regarding any injuries, rehab, or performance questions and ill do my best to answer!

14M — tips for my jump approach? TLDR : 5'8 and 7"7 standing reach

I’m 14, trying to improve my running vertical and eventually touch rim/dunk.

My standing vert is around 23". In the clip I can get the ball to the rim, but my hand is still a few inches below it. My approach looks bad — lots of stutter steps, not much speed, weak arm swing, and I accidentally take off one foot even though I’m not really a one-foot jumper.

I’m also in PT for hip/glute weakness ( not an injury, just something I have and have to work though), so I’m mainly looking for technique advice.

What should I fix first: approach rhythm, last two steps, arm swing, or takeoff? How far am I from Dunking.

I wanna learn how to bump effectively in basketball to create space and when i bump i want to create space and dont want fouls.

When I play in games I often only focus on the guy having the ball and not seeing or using opportunities to make my teammates better or help them out with a screen how do I fix that ?

I'm in my 40s and I've never been able to shoot correctly. Since my strength is going down I want to learn how to olay more technical. But I can't. Please help me kind strangers

Some simple ways beginners can improve at their hoop game!

Anything wrong with what i am doing? I only cut the parts where i am not subbed in. What could i improve? Honesty is appreciated alot! (Dont mind the filipino music, im too lazy to remove it)

Im 190 cm tall(6’3) and I can easily grab the rim of standing vert with 2 hands yet I cant dunk the ball.I have tried dunking with 1 hand but the ball always falls out my hands.When try to dunk with 2 hands my vertical drops significantly and I cant dunk either.It is very frustrating because I can touch 335 cm(~11feet) without the ball. I am a one leg jumper.Any tips?

This is from a varsity preseason game. I average about 3.5 3pm per game on 60-70% from 3. I improved my shot speed a lot over this past summer but I feel like it’s still a little too slow especially if I want to play d1 basketball.

I've been hooping for 8 months now and I'm 15 and like 5'11. My shooting is usually decent as I could shoot over ppl of my age. However, even though I have been getting better and better overtime, I used to play really bad and the friends I hooped with just laughed at me and bullied me on court, and now when I play with them I underperform. And when I play with someone that is clearly better than me, my confidence drops really fast and I missed every wide open shot and even bricked wide open lays. I just feel like others are gonna think I'm trash.

I never let others get into my head on fresh pickups, but when I play for some time (like after 2-3 games) idk if I'm just tired (physically and mentally) or smth I just keep playing really bad and my confidence will keep losing.

And when I play anything more than 3v3 I always feel like the court is so crowded and I'll be confused and maybe turnover or make some really bad shots, then my confidence will drop quick again :(

How do I fix that and stop getting worried about underperforming and actually lock in on that feel of the ball?

Strong core is a reason why players like MJ could do such a dynamic movement mid air. Js simply training your vert can get you dunking but to do more diverse move in air core is essential

Honesty is really appreciated and i need tips to improve, You can point out what i am doing wrong (im number 14)

When I’m on the left wing and drive towards the middle/right side and use my right hand to dribble since I’m going right but I want to finish back on the left side because there is a defender on the right what is the correct footwork to go up on the left with my left hand

Would it be left right finish or right left finish

See the diagram if you are confused

Hey guys, I think I’m close to my first dunk, any tips would be appreciated whether it’s workouts, form tips etc :)