To excel in basketball, one requires speed, agility, lower body power. Understanding the physical demand and biomechanics of the sport is essential when planning training to develop these skills. Basketball require agility, a lot of stop and go, and changing of directions. There is also a lower body power demand for positioning for rebounds and for driving to the net/dunking. For speed and agility training, running and sliding drills around pillons (with and without a medicine ball) improves these aspects of fitness. A weighted vest will also be a good tool for improve speed. Also, horizontal speed and acceleration have a great impact on vertical jump.
To improve lower body power and stimulate fast twitch fibers perform; hill running, plyometric training, weight training, and skipping. Hill running will increase strength in hamstrings, glutes, calves, hip flexors, and shoulders. Having stronger hip flexors and shoulders will help with momentum for increased vertical jump. Hill running can be performed with tools such as; a weighted vest, or parachute.
1/4 squat jumps will help improve lower body strength and vertical jump as well. Lower your body into a 1/4 squat position and jump up swinging your arms above your head and come down to the 1/4 squat position, then jump back up fast. Repeat for high reps. Use a medicine ball or weight vest for increased difficulty. Box jumps and depth jumps will add further intensity to lower body plyometric training.
In the gym, focus on exercises such as; squats, leg presses, calf raises, deadlifts, hip flexion, shoulder presses, and front raises. Perform exercises with speed but controlled.
Mixed one legged and two legged skipping will improve coordination/timing, speed,and vertical jump. You can use a weighted rope for added difficulty. Do skipping for 1 minute sets with :30 rests inbetween.
Remember to always stretch (especially lower body) after warmup and after training. Perform quadriceps, hamstring, glutes, lower back, and calf stretches. Flexibility and greater range of motion will definitely improve your vertical jump. Also keep track of your vertical and 60 meter sprint times to keep motivated and to know when to change up your program. Note: these training drills can help improve performance in other sports, especially volleyball.
