Tag: baden

Recommendation

The Baden SkilCoach Heavy Trainer Rubber Basketball is not worth purchasing. From my experience, the rubber surface tore up my fingertips to the point of bleeding, and I could not see any marked improvement in shooting range from shooting the ball. If I were to try a heavy basketball again, I might try one of Spalding’s weighted balls with a composite cover that would cause less pressured friction on my finger tips.

Background

The Baden Heavy Basketball has a sharp rubber surface and my problems with it remind me of when the NBA tried to stop using leather balls several years ago and players complained how their fingers got cut using the ball. Using the 29.5 inch, 40-44 oz (3.5 pounds) ball, I developed blisters and had to stop shooting for weeks at a time. Later, these blisters tore up when I used the ball again, and fingers would bleed with use.

Despite this, my extensive time training with the ball never resulted in any improvements in my shooting range. It’s definitely much heavier than a normal basketball. During shots outside a few feet, I would airball most of the time, and this was on a slightly low court (rim 9.5 feet high).

(Note: I initially reviewed the Baden basketball nearly 4 years ago. I am revisiting the review and condensing it for easier consumption in this new article as well as reviewing what I wrote, removing biases with hindsight. For more of my basketball training product reviews, click here)