Isn't upper body strength almost useless in the NBA?

[giantgonzolez]

I mean David Robinson could probably curl and bench more than any of the top 10 centers in NBA History(have you seen how big his arms were in that Spalding commerical with NBA greats shooting freethrows?), but it's not really that useful in the NBA.
I think it's actually better to have a funny looking pear shaped bottom heavy body like Shaq for basketball.

[monkeypox]

Having good upper body strength and strong grip on the ball means you can weather more contact on the way to the hoop, so I wouldn't say that it's useless. Maybe having a strong upper body and bad hands like Kwame Brown might be useless.

[K.Koscik]

Almost useless?

I take it you don't play basketball.

Upper body strength helps for things like --

Shooting range
Not getting stripped / blocked (you can power the ball through defender)
The harder you dribble the harder it is to get picked

Defense:
Shot Blocking
Keeping people out of the post
Boxing out (you'd be suprised how many people use arms to box out)

It's not useless at all.

[Toizumi]

More shaq hating!!! joy!! you're pretty predictable giantgonzolozie...
you're threads sck.. all of them. Everyone except you thinks so... really, read the posts..
just stop it.

upper body strenght is very important, especially in the post.. and shaq had plenty of it..

[hito da god]

it sounds to me like you have never played basketball before

[Da KO King]

Upper-body strength helps post players hold the position in the paint and slashing guards finish at the rim after taking contact from secondary defenders.

[BlackMamba24]

Please stop posting.

[giantgonzolez]

More shaq hating!!! joy!! you're pretty predictable giantgonzolozie...
you're threads sck.. all of them. Everyone except you thinks so... really, read the posts..
just stop it.

upper body strenght is very important, especially in the post.. and shaq had plenty of it..

Shaq couldn't curl half as much as Malone or Robinson though.
Shaq's arms are ALSO ALL FAT so they'd be MUCH MUCH smaller if shaq lost that extra 75lbs of fat he always carries.
Now THIS is the NBA's version of a Gun Show, SHAQ IS NOT INVITED.
They're not even flexing.

[geno]

Wow it's clear the OP has never played basketball before. It's also important for rebounding, and the more upperbody(and lower) strength the easier it is for people to bounce OFF you. Also not to mention you'll be prone to injury if you have that much muscle imbalance.

[giantgonzolez]

Wow it's clear the OP has never played basketball before. It's also important for rebounding, and the more upperbody(and lower) strength the easier it is for people to bounce OFF you. Also not to mention you'll be prone to injury if you have that much muscle imbalance.

Olajuwon had below average upper body strength and look at what a horrible player he turned out to be

[dnyk1337]

Olajuwon had below average upper body strength and look at what a horrible player he turned out to be

Below average? Based on what criteria? Last time I checked, he was a beast. You need good upper body strength to motion yourself in the air... Grabbing rebounds and blocking shots isn't all lower body.

[Biddy77]

core strength generally falls under the category of "upper body strength" in conversations. that's basically where your basis for stability and balance come from.

other areas where upper body strength shows up:

--finishing at the rim. see lebron & Iggy's shooting percentages around the basket. i don't think it's coincidence that they're 2nd & 3rd in the league in shooting within 5 feet, and are both physical freaks with extremely developed upper bodies. secondary frame of reference--the many clips of chris webber and shaq finishing with guys pulling down on their arms.

--rebounding. while this involves a broad range of factors, upper body strength comes into play while pulling towards your body, or exploding upward, with your arms resisting downward drag (hooked arms, etc).

--attacking through tight defense. while legs are also important, core strength and shoulder strength are very big keys here. when guys bump you, and your guard-arm gives too much, it tends to throw off your balance, and sometimes even results in the contact coming all the way into your torso. might not sound like a big deal, but look at deron williams, lebron, dwade, chauncey, etc... when they drive and take contact, what happens? generally speaking, they are able to hold their ground and remain under control.

--passing. when you lack upper body strength, some passes simply aren't options for you. being able to put enough power behind a pass to get the ball through a passing lane (without a lot of wasted motion/time), opens up possibilities for ball delivery. guys who are strong enough to put 'zip' on passes when it looks like not much more than a flick of the arm--those guys have a lot of options.

--defense. roughly... all of it. even though you can't make contact above the foul line these days, once you are able to put an arm on someone, upper body strength becomes a huge advantage. same goes for post defense.

--cheating. excuse me. i mean "vet moves". the hook (not the shot. the torso hook on spin moves), the wing/half hook (hooking them with your elbow), the arm drag. the "heisman" on the dribble drive. the hip handcheck. so many, and most of them are epic fail without good upper body strength behind them. when you're trying to get away with s**t, you don't get to tap into your lower body strength as much for leverage. you have to rely on compact movements.


etc, etc, etc.

i used to be a personal trainer. one of the first things i would do with guys when they first started lifting for basketball was to get them doing a very simple program to give them a strength base. in addition to squats and power cleans, both of which increase lower body (and core) strength, i would have them do military press, wide-grip pullups, and yeah... even (30 degree incline) bench. after that, you move on to more specialized routines, but those always include upper body strength in addition to the core and leg work.

[BALLin01]

Shaq couldn't curl half as much as Malone or Robinson though.
Shaq's arms are ALSO ALL FAT so they'd be MUCH MUCH smaller if shaq lost that extra 75lbs of fat he always carries.
Now THIS is the NBA's version of a Gun Show, SHAQ IS NOT INVITED.
They're not even flexing.

@shaq being fat

[giantgonzolez]

@shaq being fat

I found out that Shaq's lean bodyweight is 263lbs, the rest is fat.
Lack of striations, visable veins, etc in the arm are PROOF of being too fat for a pro athlete. Shaq exhibits ALL these symptoms.
David Robinson's lean bodyweight for example would be in the neighborhood of 245lbs since he had virtually no fat.
He probably has the highest bodyfat percentage of any player since Oliver Miller or Barkley.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.s...fat+percentage

[2 Legit 2 Quit]

Lower body strength is underrated.