Lots of good replies above, sorry I haven't got around to acknowledging them yet.
LBBS, what you say about being 'strength' to hold the ball without being stripped is a skill is true, just not what we're talking about. Actually ChrisM came closer when he spoke about playing thru contact. That is an example of (physical) strength which is what i'm particularly interested!
Mutumbo000 got what I was getting at with having a strong physical game. He gives the insight that Rugby players who are fearless have been doing it all their life and do not shy away from contact. Todday gave more detail on this mindset and how it begins from an early age. I can relate to Mutombo about avoiding contact because i'm not build to hit ppl. T0dday might be, being a big burly stocky guy compared to someone like me.
I dont particularly want to play grindy and physical either, it's not attractive to me, actually that's a dirty aspect of the australian game, it's too physical and not enough finesse and skill which seems vulgar. In fact to me, an athletic, finesse game is ideal, and that's what drives me to work hard on increasing my athleticism because i'd like to out-move, out-jump, out-strength out-think my opponents. I'd like to dance around them (with my superior trained athleticism) AND in anticipation to what LBSS might say (it's a skill not athleticm) i'm sure it's related to physical /strength/power/reactive ability/etc which isn't a skill. I can work on my skills, should work on it will work on my skills, that's going to happen regardless.
But coming back to strength, real physical strength on the court or the field. When you make contact with a strong player you feel the impact and power that the athlete is generating. Even if they weigh only 165, they hit hard. When you're guarding them as they drive, they're generating surprising amounts of momentum and you can feel it if you make contact, it's irresistible. I'm intested in both facets of this, both being able to generate that kind of power, and also in being able to resist it (being immovable).
Raptor says its "system strength" or that he just has no weak areas. That's true WHEN HES ON THE COURT. He HAS to be, he's been doing those same movements all his life. Put him on a football field or hockey rink and you'd expose all sorts of functional strength deficits! Take a farmer that tosses hay bales all day every day...look at him in his element and yes, hes "strong", take him away from that element and what happens though? You'll find weakness. (This is why SST is SO important as well!)
And Mutumbo go to probably the heart of it.... He's NOT a pussy. (can't think of any better way to put it actually). He knows he's going to get it, all the small guys do, we still go in there and bang because we don't give a fuck, we just want to win and thats the bottom line.
It's a mindset. A mental toughness polished through years of competitive play and the nature of a true competitor. You can't get that in the weight room, you can't get hit during drills or shooting sessions or even the most intense practice. It's forged on the field of play. Period.
^this sums it up
- Use your hips/bum- these guys that seem immovable have great hip strength and have learned to use their hips/bum to either block out or move their opponent to their advantage. If you've ever watched AFL think Chris Judd. Not the biggest guy out there but has great hip/core strength to be able to stand up in tackles and not get moved/shoved off the ball. As a big guy on the basketball court this skill is essential.
Thanks, that's what I need in the post, which is an area i'm not confortable in, and quite frankly, I don't know if I need to be, being 6'3" and weighing 75-80kg lol. I mean I would like to be able to defend well but as far as posting up on someone who outweighs me by 20-40kg yea that's not going to happen.
2) As Mutumbo said.... There is just no replacement for toughness. Unfortunately, this might be a bit harder for someone to acquire because you can practice all you want but you might not have toughness. Toughness is really acquired pretty young; you can pretty much tell from an early age which kids have it and which kids don't. Basically the kid with all the broken bones who doesn't seem to fear much socially or physically and is a bit crazy... Usually only children/first children have less toughness and young girls are more cautious. Exceptions to every rule. One way to be tough is to just naturally not give a fuck or have a bunch of older brothers that beat the hell out of you all the time... The thing about being fearless is it's a bit maladaptive... I think the only way to really acquire toughness is to play a collision sport where you realize that you just have to let go and go absolutely crazy. I didn't start playing football until high-school and I was pretty afraid to hit during drills because they coach was forced to make us watch tons of videos about spearing and paralysis so I tackled high with my head to the sky and and always received blows when tackling. One day I was already moving full speed and somebody came out of no-where and I had little choice but to dip a shoulder and I was able to pancake the guy and continue running over him. After that I realized the benefit of delivering the blow rather than receiving it and became somewhat addicted to tackling and started playing like the strongest guy on the field....
The confound here is described in point #2. To some extent you can figure out "toughness/physicality".... but it's easier to figure it out if you are also bigger and stronger to begin with. Throwing your body into the other player will almost always yield a better result than flinching and cowering... but if your really weak your gonna get wrecked and your glasses broken either way.... so you won't get as much positive feedback to inspire your toughness. Perhaps your teammate complain that your soft.... But since you are tall and useful to the team they don't complain very loudly.
The bottom line for you is to not go down any further the path which you have started. No offense but I call this the typical "nerd" approach to sports. They find that they have some disadvantage (example: "you get the ball stripped the other guy doesn't") and then they take an approach where they essentially say "Ok back to the lab to figure out how to model the problem and ameliorate this deficit".... Then the waste a bunch of time doing shit like band bicep curls with my hands clasped to increase strength for ripping the ball through the lane... This is the kind of idiocy that spawns things like bosu ball squats....
Don't waste your time... Yes, you might be too old to get the type of toughness Charles Barkley had. But if you want to be the best forward you can be in basketball you just have to go down your checklist and KEEP IT SIMPLE: Get bigger and stronger in the weight room, practice, practice, practice to get better and better at the game, AND TRY HARDER, imagine something that makes you mad, go to a crazy place, whatever works for you, but play and practice inspired and it will fall into place. You are doing great and doing all you can do... Don't derail yourself.
This is great advice.
