How to be quick in basketball

USA Basketball - How to Improve Your Court Speed

All athletes need speed -- particularly in a sport like basketball where the first player up and down the court can mean the difference in winning or losing a game.

In the world of sports, the fastest, quickest athletes are usually the most successful. But exactly what kind of speed and quickness is best for basketball?

Many coaches may place too much emphasis on "straight-ahead" speed by, for example, focusing too much of their attention on getting their athletes to run a faster 40-yard dash. In a sport like basketball, this isn't necessarily going to be the kind of speed that's going to make for a more effective player. Seldom, if ever, does a player run baseline to baseline in a straight line, and even if they did, a fast 40-yard dash might not equate to an effectively fast basketball player.

Having fast top-end speed measured at 40 yards wouldn't necessarily make you as effective as perhaps being a bit slower in the 40, but having the quickness and explosiveness to be faster down the court (which is a shorter distance).

Most sprinting in basketball starts from moving or "rolling" positions, not a stationary one. So, some of your training should be spent with that in mind. Performing your speed training from different starting positions such as turning and sprinting from a backpedal, accelerating from a side-shuffle, or running after getting up from the floor (simulating being knocked down and having to get up and hustle down the court) translates into more "real world" training for basketball players than simply lining up at one baseline and sprinting to the other.

This doesn't mean there is no room in your training for that kind of sprinting. It may have a place in your conditioning program--to build, for example, speed endurance. But, don't confuse this type of training with working on your game speed.

Here are three tips that can help athletes plan a program designed to improve their basketball speed:

Build Strength

Before any speed work is done, an athlete must have adequate strength. Without it, you might as well be trying to get a car to go 100 miles per hour with a go-cart's engine. Studies have shown that weight training to build strength can improve running speed. We're not talking about building big muscles here. We're talking about building strong muscles that can help us produce speed.

A basic strength-building program for speed includes strengthening the legs (calves, hamstrings, and quads) with exercises such as calf raises, squats, leg curls and extensions; strengthening the upper body with exercises such as dumbbell (bench) press, seated row, shoulder raises, bicep curls, and triceps extensions; and the core muscles (abdominals and back) by using regular crunches from the floor, stability ball crunches, oblique rotations, and back extensions. These basic exercises and more can help the basketball athlete begin to develop the strength necessary to build speed.

• 5 Exercises To Improve Power

Work on Acceleration and Quickness

Acceleration is the ability to increase velocity. The key here is how quickly you can increase your speed. This is perhaps more important in basketball than raw speed, because unlike a sport like track where all the athletes take off at the same time, basketball players must be quick to recognize when they must start a sprint--such as a rebound leading to a fast break -- and then be able to accelerate quickly. In basketball, having the ability to accelerate from a stationary position or from a moving position is equally important.

Drills such as learning the proper 45-degree body position to begin acceleration, or using the proper arm action in the sprint can be helpful in this type of training. Each of these seemingly simple, but often overlooked aspects to becoming faster can help athletes improve their acceleration.

Don't Forget Deceleration

Training for speed without including deceleration training is like learning to drive a car very fast without brakes. Athletes need effective speed, and effective speed means being fast, but under control.

When a basketball player dribbles fast down the court for a breakaway lay-up, she'd better be able to effectively slow down as she approaches the basket. Otherwise, she's out of control, and will probably miss the lay-up and perhaps even get injured.

Braking or decelerating is extremely important to speed training -- perhaps the most important skill in basketball speed training. This may seem counter intuitive to some, but in order to have effective speed on the basketball court, the athlete must be able to run fast, decelerate or slow down, and reaccelerate into a sprint, cut, or jump. Slowing down properly actually aids in the athlete's ability to reaccelerate. A fast, out-of-control player is not very effective in a game. So make sure that learning proper deceleration techniques are an integral part of your speed workouts.

An extensive discussion about proper deceleration technique is complex and beyond the scope of this article. However, many experts suggest that two key components to good deceleration is in keeping nice flexed or bent knees, and in lowering the athlete's hips during deceleration--whether from a sprint or from a landing.

Always check with your physician before undertaking any exercise program such as those covered in this article.

5 Best Basketball Speed Drills and Exercises

Home > Player > Athletic Development > 5 Best Basketball Speed Drills

Speed Kills

You've heard your coaches tell you over the years. Speed kills! A player who is FASTER simply can make something out of nothing.

It is not fun having opponents consistently fly by you down the court for an easy bucket or struggling to close out to shooters before they fire 3's over you. Players with more speed are simply able to make more plays... so maybe it is time to do something about that!

Game Of Inches

People always say how basketball is a game of inches, and it truly is a game of inches. As you continue to play basketball at higher and higher levels, it becomes more evident that most plays either fail or succeed based on a matter of INCHES. So how does this relate to speed? Let's examine the following situations:

• If you are faster coming off a screen, you are more likely to hit that 3 over the outstretched hands of a defender.
• If you are faster running the floor, you are more likely to get that transition layup or dunk.
• If you are faster bringing the ball down the court, you are more likely to turn a secondary break into a primary break and create offense for your team. Or better yet, you create a scoring opportunity for yourself.
• If you are faster on defense, you are able to closeout on a skip pass and take away an opponent's jump shot.
• If you are faster in transition defense, you can get back in time to block a game winning shot attempt.

What is the difference between failing or succeeding in each of these scenarios? We are not talking about a matter of seconds in these scenarios, rather we are talking about being faster by a few milliseconds.

Seeing The Court

Being one step faster could also be the difference between seeing more playing time on the court. This won't necessarily be because a coach puts a stop watch on you and notices that your 40 yard dash time is faster, but coaches will notice when you begin making more plays on the court. And in the end this is why players work to get faster- it helps you make plays while on the court.

Have A Plan

Cody Roberts Athletic Development Program has specific exercises in it designed to help you become a better athlete. If you want to have the most success at becoming a better athlete, you need to follow a well laid out plan by a professional, this is the first step in guaranteeing success.

Remember, successful athletes have a plan.

Great basketball players don't go into the gym without a shooting routine and they don't go into the weightroom without having a program designed to make them a better athlete.

5 Drills and Exercises To Increase Your Speed

1) Wall Drive

One key to great speed is your body position. The drill teaches proper body positions of acceleration. It also helps develop proper mechanics of driving the feet into the ground, keeping head up, and chest out.

2) A-Skip

Great exercise for helping you develop dynamic control of your body and your posture. It also helps with proper positioning of the torso, hip, knee, and foot when sprinting. Start slow with this exercise and add speed as you get more comfortable with the drill. Maintaining good posture throughout is a key to the A-Skip.

3) Straight Leg Bounds

Straight leg bounds will help you develop an aggressive hip drive and ground contacts. This helps improve your prime movers, which are muscles used to power the body forward. Focus on quick contact with the ground and hangtime in the air while performing Straight Leg Bounds.

4) 5-15 Yard Sprint Starts (Falling and Half Kneeling)

Great drills to work on straight ahead acceleration. There are several variations of sprint starts. Begin by focusing on the falling and half kneeling sprint starts.

5) Flying 10's

This exercise is one of the highest and most intense training stimulus for an athlete. Being able to run at and experience full speed sprinting is awesome for developing a complete athlete. Focus here should be on sprinting tall and upright, while remaining relaxed.

Beyond The Dunk

Take a look at this next video clip. While the announcers and most fans will focus on the dunks these players finish with, please look beyond the dunk. I want you to focus on something else. How did they get open or how did they get to the rim?

The answer to that question is SPEED!

Each player that scores in the video simply outruns their opponents at some point. You probably won't turn Sportscenter on anytime soon and have the hosts talk about how fast a player was on the court. I challenge you though to notice what puts these players in position to make spectacular defensive or highlight reel offensive plays. I think you'll find that speed is a definite factor in their success.

Showcase Your Skills

You have worked very hard on your basketball skills. Better speed will allow you a chance to showcase these skills.

• Offensively-speed will create space between you and your opponent.
• Defensively- speed will take away space between you and your opponent.

Without that space, showing what you can do on the court is that much more difficult. Give yourself an edge on the court, and increasing your speed will help you do so.

If you'd like a step-by-step program to help you take your athleticism to the next level...

Take a look at Cody Roberts' 12-week Athletic Development Program. This improves your speed, vertical jump, quickness, and much more.

Exercises, means, methods for developing the speed of basketball players

Basketball lessons » Playing skills

October 29, 2011 Author: Maxim Gordienko

Hello, dear visitors of the site " Basketball Lessons ". We continue the topic of training and developing game skills with an article devoted to such an athlete parameter as speed.

Quickness is the player's ability to perform his actions in the shortest amount of time. The development of speed should be constantly paid attention to in training. Such training is especially necessary for tall and super tall players, since natural giants usually get little speed. It is known that weight training increases the speed of movement, develops muscle strength, improves coordination, which is important primarily for centers. It is advisable to combine special exercises and work on speed and technique in conditions close to the game, since constant game time trouble requires hard work, quick thinking and quick movements.

Development of speed among basketball players

In practice of working with basketball players of the national team, it has been proven that exercises with a barbell or kettlebell weighing 15-20% of the player's own weight develop motor speed. It is only necessary to ensure that during exercises with such weights the speed of movement does not decrease. Working with weights of 70-80% of the player's own weight contributes to the development of explosive strength and starting speed. However, it must be remembered that isometric exercises, which are mainly used to strengthen ligaments, are contraindicated for the development of speed: the muscles lose their elasticity, their contractions slow down. This method of developing speed skills includes work in the hall with balls and training in the stadium.

• One or two legged squat jumps with the weights mentioned above.
• Quick steps forward, backward, left, right with a weight of 25-30 kg - from 30 s to 1 min (2-3 steps each).
• Quick steps without weights forward, backward, left, right, touching the ground with the hand at each change of direction - 1 min (2-3 steps each).
• Same steps with touching the ground with one hand and dribbling with the other.
• High starts at a distance of 5-10 m on time signal - in pairs, triples of players matched by weight, height, speed. Performed facing forward, then back forward.
• Low starts at a distance of 5-10 m. Performed in the same way as in exercise. 5, but with dribbling.
• Starts face or back forward at a distance of 5-10 m. The ball is at a distance of 3 m from the start. The player must take the ball and drive it forward. Can be done in pairs or triplets. The exercise is useful for developing starting speed.
• The same as the previous one, at a distance of 50-100 m - for the development of motor speed. Runs on time.
• Running 30-40m with high hips, turning into acceleration for the same distance. The same exercise can be performed with one or two balls dribbling.
• Running with a shin touching the buttocks for 30-40 m with the transition to acceleration for the same distance.
• Running with jumps alternately on the left and right foot for 30-40 m with the transition to acceleration for the same distance, with and without dribbling the ball.
• Jumps on two legs forward (legs together) for a distance of 30-40 m with the transition to acceleration (running) for the same distance. This drill can be done with one or two balls dribbling.
• Running with straight legs thrown forward (without bending the knees) up to 50 m with the transition to acceleration for the same distance. Can be done with one or two balls.
• Snatch 15-40-60 m with rotation of the ball around the body, neck.
• Fast run from a high start with the transfer of the ball from hand to hand. It is held as a competition of two or three players against the clock. Distance - up to 50 m.
• The same as in the previous one, with imitation of deceptive movements.
• Passing the ball in pairs during a speed run. One player runs forward, the other runs backwards.
• Forward facing speed run of two players holding one ball with arms outstretched towards each other.
• Speed ​​run with side steps of two players facing each other, holding two balls on outstretched arms. Distance - up to 50m.
• Fast running of the center player backwards with the transfer of 3-4 balls to him by the players who move facing him, being at a distance of 4-5 m. Distance - up to 100 m.
• Fastest ascent and descent of stairs, taking into account the frequency of movements. It is held as a competition of two or three players for a time - from 20 to 40 s.
• Speed ​​run with turns (pivots) with one or two balls in a competition of two players. Distance - from 30 to 50m.
• Same as above, but with dribbling and shooting, in pairs and teams.
• 100m track and field team dribbling relay. Players must pass the ball from hand to hand after 100m acceleration. Teams can be 5-10 people.
• High-speed passes of the ball by three players in three passes with the ball thrown into the ring 5-7 times in a row.
• High-speed dribbling from the front to the foul line, returning to the backboard with throwing the ball into the ring. Then dribbling to the center and back, to the opposite penalty area and back. It is played as a competition between two players.
• Same as above, but dribbling with two balls.

By the way, these speed and speed training methods are taken from A. Gomelsky's book on the development and training of basketball players. But let's continue.