Family Friendly Basketball Activities To Do At Home

These past few weeks have been challenging for all of us, and the basketball community is being hit hard. Before we get into some fun activities, we wanted to extend our best wishes to our amazing team and customers - our family. We sincerely hope that you are all healthy, virtually connected with friends and family, and safe in your homes. We are committed to staying positive throughout this uncertain time, and we will try our very best to be a small source of happiness and encouragement for you in the next coming weeks or months.

We may have put our basketball jerseys on the shelf for the time being, but that doesn’t mean we have to forget all about our favourite sport. With most of us staying at home right now, we thought we would share some of our favourite basketball activities that can be done at your house.

These activities are designed to help you practice those dribbling skills, improve your endurance or just have a bit of fun with your family (or the people you live with).

PLAY HORSE

This game is a classic, and it's all about scoring. Playing Horse is a great way to hone your shooting skills while enjoying a bit of quality time at home.

Start by gathering all the players around a basketball hoop in your yard. If you don’t have a hoop or if you are playing inside, you can use a basket or bucket as a hoop-substitute. You then need to mark 5 different spots on the ground (or the floor), ideally at different distances (or angles) from the hoop or bucket. This is where you determine the level of difficulty for the game. If you have older players such as teenagers or sporty parents, you might want to mark the ground further from the hoop, or add conditions to some marks (such as a blindfold). Once everyone has agreed to the conditions for each mark, it’s time to play! The game itself is easy: each player has to score in the hoop or bucket once from each mark, starting at mark 1. Every time you score from a mark you earn a letter: H, O, R, S and E, and can then move onto the next mark. The first player to earn all letters will be the Horse - and the winner!

DRIBBLING CONTEST

If you are a competitive type, you might be missing the adrenaline you get from competing on the court. The best way to beat those blues is to challenge your family members to a friendly dribbling contest!

Select a referee and create a scoreboard containing each participant's name (bonus points if you come up with a celebrity-sporting name). You’ll need to settle on some guidelines before you get started, to ensure everyone is on the same page. We don’t want any bad losers in the house! For example, you might want to count the amount of bounces each player reaches in a minute, or how many times the player can dribble their way from the garage to the porch. Be creative and make sure the rules are fair to everyone. The winner gets to pick tonight's Netflix movie!

GO FOR A RUN

Whether you’re a regular runner or a newbie - there’s never been a better time to explore your local running track. Any basketball player knows that endurance is vital when it comes to game-day, so why not start working on it now?

Set up a clear goal for yourself based on your current fitness level. If you are new to running, you might want to start with one or two kilometres (and take it fairly easy). You can then increase the distance and speed as you become more accustomed to running. On the other hand, you might be a seasoned runner already, in which case you might want to challenge yourself by incorporating a couple of sprints at the end of each run. It’s a painful practice, but it has incredible health benefits, and you are bound to get a good night's sleep afterwards!

Extra Tip: Wash your Vortex basketball uniform

We have to admit this might not be the most exciting activity, but this break from team practice is the perfect opportunity to clean your uniform properly. Follow the guidelines in our previous blog post to ensure your uniform remains in it’s best shape after washing it. In addition to the clothing, now is the time to wash all your training shoes. The best way to clean your basketball shoes is with a damp sponge and only a tiny drop of detergent. Rub gently on the fabric and sole, and then swiftly rinse off the soapy residue using another damp cloth or sponge. Leave the basketball shoes to dry at room temperature and don’t apply any excess heat! It might sound boring now, but it will make you feel amazing and motivated when it’s time to hit the court again!