Want to jump higher for basketball? Don’t just do more jumps. Build the strength to produce force and the power to produce it quickly. Here’s a simple basketball-focused vertical workout: 🏋️ BACK SQUATS — 3–4 × 4–6 Build lower-body strength so you have more force to put into the floor. 🦵 REVERSE LUNGES — 3 × 6–8/leg Develop single-leg strength and stability that transfer to basketball movements. 📦 BOX JUMPS — 3–4 × 3–5 Train explosive force production while keeping the focus on quality reps and maximal intent. ⬆️ COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMPS — 3 × 4–5 Practice the actual jumping pattern and teach your body to turn the eccentric phase into explosive upward force. 🪢 JUMP ROPE — 3 × 30–60 sec Great for rhythm, ankle stiffness, coordination, and conditioning—but think of it as an accessory, not the main driver of your vertical. 🔥 THE KEY: Your jump training should be high quality, not high fatigue. For explosive exercises, take enough rest between sets to make each rep powerful. Once your jumps start getting noticeably lower or slower, the quality of the training is dropping. Research consistently supports resistance training and plyometrics for improving vertical-jump performance, including in basketball players. Studies also suggest that combining strength and plyometric work can be an effective approach for developing jump performance. (PubMed⁠) And remember: you don’t need ankle weights to jump higher. Progress your strength, jump quality, and explosive ability instead. Train the qualities that make you explosive. Get stronger → produce force faster → jump higher. 🏀🔥 Train progressively and prioritize good technique. If you’re new to loaded lifting or high-impact plyometrics, learn the movements and progress gradually. Trainer: @Logan Hinton, former 5 year pro across three countries. Train Like a Pro!

The modern game doesn’t have much room for one-dimensional players. And at the 3, versatility is everything. A small forward has to be able to punish you in the paint, stretch you beyond the arc, attack closeouts, create for others, and make the defense pay for whichever matchup it chooses. That’s the art. If you put a big on me, I’m too quick and shifty. If you put a guard on me, I’m too big and athletic. So I use both. Give me a smaller defender and I’ll attack the rim. Send a second defender and I’ll find the open man. Drive into the paint and force the defense to collapse, and suddenly a shooter is standing wide open. But it works the other way too. When I consistently knock down threes, the big has to step away from the paint. That space changes everything. The lane opens up. Driving angles become cleaner. Closeouts become longer. And now the defense has to choose between giving up a 3 or giving up an advantage at the rim. That’s why the 3 is so important. The best small forwards don’t just score—they change the geometry of the floor. Paul George is a perfect example. His value has never been limited to one way of scoring. He can shoot over smaller defenders, attack bigger ones, create off the dribble, make plays when defenses send help, and defend multiple positions. That kind of versatility forces a defense to constantly adjust. Modern basketball is built around spacing, closeouts, rotations, and creating advantages. The more threats you have on the floor, the more ground a defense has to cover—and the harder every rotation becomes. That’s what I’m trying to show in these clips. Not just scoring. Reading the matchup. Creating the advantage. Forcing the defense to react. Too fast for the bigs. Too big for the guards. A threat inside. A threat outside. That’s the art of the small forward. Trainer: @Logan Hinton, a former 5 year pro across three countries. Train Like a Pro!

LOCKED IN. This is my *Final Sunday to Thursday Template* *SUNDAY toThursday CHECKLIST* *MORNING: 6:00-10:30* - [ ] *6:00* Wake up - [ ] *6:00-6:10* Wash hands + 1L water - [ ] *6:15* Meditate - [ ] *6:20-6:23* Brain dump + 3 daily / 1 weekly / 1 big goal - [ ] *6:23-6:25* Get ready - [ ] *6:25-6:30* Bike to court - [ ] *6:35* Warm up stretch - Phase 1 - [ ] *6:50* Ball handling warm up - Go by The Notebook - [ ] *7:30-7:50* Finishing left: 40 min - [ ] *7:50-8:00* Finishing right: 20 min - [ ] *8:00-8:10* 10 min free throws - [ ] *8:10-8:50* Shooting 75 makes - 15 each spot + track % - [ ] Right corner 8:10-8:20 - [ ] Right wing 8:20-8:30 - [ ] Top 8:30-8:40 - [ ] Left wing 8:40-8:50 - [ ] Left corner 8:50-9:00 - [ ] *9:00-9:10* 10 min free throws - [ ] *9:30-10:15* Upper body: - [ ] 3x25 pushups - [ ] 3x8 normal pullups - [ ] 3x8 chin up pullups - [ ] 3x15 dips - [ ] 3x2min planks - [ ] *10:15-10:30* Bike home *MIDDAY: 10:30-12:00* - [ ] *10:30-11:00* Eat - [ ] *11:00-11:30* Work + dishes + weed *AFTERNOON: 12:00-1:30* - [ ] *12:00-12:30* Plyometrics - [ ] *12:30-1:00* Defense workout - [ ] *12:30-1:30* Film study + snack + notes *EVENING: 1:30-9:30* - [ ] *1:30-2:30* Rest + eat + read weekly portion - [ ] *2:30-3:30* Read - [ ] *3:30-4:30* Rest - [ ] *4:30-4:45* Get ready - [ ] *4:45-5:00* Bike to court - [ ] *5:00-5:05* Warm up stretch - [ ] *5:05-6:00* Ball handling x40 each - [ ] *6:00-6:50* Shooting 75 makes + 1min rest between spots - Track % - [ ] *6:50-7:00* 100 Free throws - [ ] *7:00-7:15* Bike home - [ ] *7:15-7:25* Shower - [ ] *7:25-7:30* Work - [ ] *7:30-8:30* Eat - [ ] *8:30-9:00* Rest + brush teeth - [ ] *9:00* No phone - [ ] *9:00-9:30* Track shots - [ ] *9:30* Sleep I'm sorry. It's so long.

Physicality is one of the most underrated skills in basketball. Most players think being physical just means lowering your shoulder or playing harder. In reality, it’s about creating pressure that forces the defense to react to you. The player who initiates contact, wins space, and controls positioning usually controls the possession. Research in sports science shows that elite basketball players consistently create advantages by generating force, maintaining balance through contact, and controlling their body position. When you’re strong on your drives, cut with purpose, seal your defender, or attack rebounds aggressively, you’re forcing defenders to make split-second decisions. Every reaction they make opens opportunities—for you or for your teammates. Physicality shows up in countless ways: - Finishing through contact instead of avoiding it. - Cutting hard to the basket to create separation. - Crashing the offensive and defensive glass. - Securing a rebound and attacking the middle of the floor before the defense gets set. - Setting solid screens and sealing defenders. - Defending with your chest, feet, and body positioning instead of reaching. - The best part? Physicality isn’t about being the biggest or strongest player on the court. It’s about playing with intention, confidence, and controlled aggression. When you consistently initiate pressure instead of reacting to it, you dictate the game’s pace instead of letting the defense dictate yours. In this video, I’m showing how physical basketball creates scoring opportunities, opens passing lanes, and impacts winning far beyond the box score. Train with purpose. Play with physicality. Win more possessions. 🏀 Hinton Hoops - Train Like a Pro

The biggest mistake players make isn’t practicing too little—it’s practicing the wrong things. Every move, finish, and shot you see in this video is something I’ve put thousands of reps into. There are no flashy moves that only work in workouts. No tricks for social media. Just skills that translate to real games. Sports science supports this approach. The principle of specificity says your body and brain adapt to exactly how you train. The more your practice resembles game situations, the stronger the neural pathways become, leading to faster decision-making, better movement patterns, and greater consistency under pressure. In other words, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall back on your training. Practice how you play. If you never take a certain shot in a game, why spend hours mastering it? If a move doesn’t create space against real defenders, it’s probably not worth making the foundation of your workout. Every rep should have a purpose: 🏀 Game-speed footwork 🏀 Reads you’ll actually make 🏀 Shots you’ll actually take 🏀 Finishes you’ll actually use That’s what we teach at Hinton Hoops. We focus on efficient, game-tested skills that help players perform when the lights come on—not just look good in an empty gym. Train with intention. Build habits that transfer. Dominate when it matters!