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How to change speed in basketball
How to change speed 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.
Basketball on the Edge - The Beauty of Changing Speeds
Not every move you make as a player out on the basketball court needs to be done at full speed. Counterintuitive, I know. You may be asking yourself, “I’m supposed to play as hard as I can and give 100% effort, what do you mean I shouldn’t always go full speed?” The single best way to improve your efficiency as an offensive basketball player is to learn to be constantly on the move, changing speeds in short bursts. This applies to situations both when you have the ball and when you don’t.
Most young players have one speed with the ball: full speed. Let me describe a situation that you often see in a youth basketball game. A young player will get a defensive rebound and then take off towards the other end of the floor. They are moving so fast that they are nearly out of control.
If they don’t turn the ball over before they make it to their basket, they are off-balance and can’t get a good shot off anyway. As players get better they learn to slow down and control their movements on the court. Yes, there are times, like on a breakaway layup, where going full speed is important, but the real trick to becoming a good offensive basketball player is to learn how to change speeds.
Moving without the BallAs an offensive player you have a distinct advantage over your defender. You know what you are going to do. The defense can only react to try to counter your initial move. Let’s talk first about moving without the ball when you are on offense and how the concept of changing speeds can help you get open. You don’t have to sprint constantly and run until you are out of breath in order to get open. What you need to do is keep moving constantly at varying speeds. The word I like to use is float. You are floating to different spots on the court and then hitting your defender with a burst of speed to pop out and get the ball or cut to the basket.
Most defenders will relax as you are floating. They may get out of their stance, they may stare at the ball and lose sight of you, or they may just relax for a split second. When those things happen that is your time to hit them with a short burst of speed to get open and catch the ball. This concept is called “Float then Fast”. Learning which way to move in relation to your defender takes time and experience to learn, but if you remember to float and then go fast you’ll go a long way towards improving your ability to move without the ball.
Remember, there is a difference between “floating” and “dancing”. Floating means constantly moving to different areas on the court so your defender has to move with you. Dancing means you are standing in one place taking just a step or two in either direction. A dancer is easy to guard, the defender doesn’t even have to move. Don’t be a dancer without the ball, learn “Float and Fast” to get open and receive a pass.
Use a V-cutThe v-cut is a simple move to get open where the offensive player takes the defender in the opposite direction of where they want to end up on the court.
A player might v-cut from the wing to the block and then pop back out to the wing to receive the pass. If the offensive player sprints to the block and sprints back out the defender stays engaged and goes hard to stay with the offense. If the offensive player floats to the block and then hits the defender with a burst of speed, they are much more likely to get open. The defender relaxes as the offensive player moves slowly. They don’t know that the offensive player is about to shift gears with a quick burst of speed. The offense has the advantage of knowing where they want to go. The change of speed creates the split second of space the offensive player needs to get open and catch the ball.
The Ball is in Your HandsOnce you catch the ball, the same concepts apply. If everything you do with the ball is at full speed, defenders can stay with you because they know what to expect. Think of a major league baseball pitcher. Even one that throws 100 mph can be hit if the batter knows what’s coming.
That’s why pitchers need to be able to throw a changeup or curve ball to keep the batters off balance. The same concepts apply when you have the ball. Catch the ball and square up to the basket, slow down and look at what is going on. Then, make a quick move past your defender. As you approach a defender while you are dribbling come at them at varying speeds and then accelerate out of your dribble move to penetrate the defense.
Players that constantly change speeds are a nightmare to defend. The defense never knows what to expect and is constantly kept off balance. Good players keep their opponents guessing about what is coming next. Without the ball, learn to constantly float to different spots on the floor and then go fast in quick bursts to get open. With the ball, remember that going hard doesn’t mean going full speed at all times. Quick bursts will get you where you want to go. You don’t have to be the fastest player on the court to get open and score, you just have to understand how to change speeds.
Exercises for developing the speed of movements
Hello, dear visitors of the site " basketball-training.org.ua "! In today's article we will talk about such an important aspect of basketball training as speed development . Basketball is a very dynamic game, and basketball players (especially those playing in positions 1-3) have to move a lot, and often at a jerky pace. Jerks, stops, sharp and sudden changes in direction - all this requires good physical fitness and explosive speed.
The exercises that you will learn in this material will improve the speed of movement around the site, the speed and coordination of movements, and most importantly, will allow you to change direction with minimal delays. Let's start a story about the means and methods of developing speed in basketball players.
Training and development of speed
Let's start with the fact that during the game of basketball, the player has to perform jerks and accelerations over short distances (5,10,20 meters), because the court itself will not allow it anymore.
So great results in the 100m do not always lead to the same success when trying to run into a fast break. Much more important will be the ability to quickly "switch" between running forward and backward, left and right.
Combining agility training with classic speed training will have a huge impact on your playing ability. As a result, you will not only be able to cover the distance from one ring to another much faster, but will also be able to direct the rest of your energy to perform other specific basketball elements, such as jump , feint or throw . But let's get straight to the exercises.
Speed Exercise #1: Super Shuttle
- Starting position - on the end line under the ring
- Start moving to point "A" in a protective stance
- U-turn and fast dash from A to B, focusing on minimizing turnaround time
- From point "B" with an added step in a protective stance we move to the starting position
- We jump up and touch the shield (well, or the ring).
- Back in defensive stance move to "C"
- Turn and dash from "C" to "D"
- With an added step in a protective stance, we return to the starting position
- Jump out and touch the shield or ring
Super Shuttle
The exercise is performed 6-8 times with a 60-90 second break in between. If you are a coach, or just do this exercise with friends, then I suggest a little increase in motivation to do it. As soon as the first player reaches point "A", the second one starts moving. A large number of players can be divided into 2 groups, placed on 2 rings and have a small competition.
Speed Exercise #2: Zigzag
- Place 4 markers (they can be absolutely anything: chips, balls, stones, etc.) on the same line at a distance of about 3 meters from each other
- Now stand in the middle between the first and second cone, measure 3 meters to the side and put another marker (total you will need to put 3 more markers).
- Dash to the first marker - then in defensive stance move to the left - when you get to the marker - side step in defensive stance to the right
- After the last marker, perform a short dash (3-5 meters)
Zigzag (wave)
Exercise is performed 6-8 times , a break is the time until you reach the start.
Speed Drill #3: Shuttle with Ball Pass
- So, we start the movement from the front line (START). The ring is on your left.
- Dash to point "A" and receive a pass from the coach (partner)
- Immediately return the pass, turn around and dash to the end line "B"
- At point "B" jump out and touch the shield, net or ring
- After landing, we run out to the perimeter again, get a pass and return it back
- Again dash to the ring, jump, return to the coach, get a pass and now do not give it back
- Turn around and do a quick dribble to the basket and finish with a lay-up or dunk.
Shuttle and pass
The exercise is repeated 4-6 times, with a short break (60-90 seconds), or almost without a break - if you are a very tough player! It is better to give the pass from the three-point line, and, as can be seen from the figure, you need to receive it in the area of \u200b\u200bthe line for the free throw.
Speed Exercise #4: Square
- To begin your workout, mark out a 6 x 6 meter square (original suggested 6 x 6 yards, which is approximately 5.5 meters). Put some kind of marker in the middle of the square - this will be the starting position
- Each of the vertices of the square needs to come up with a name (1,2,3,4 or A, B, C, D). Coach or your partner names the top of the square at random
- As soon as the vertex is named, the player makes a dash to it, and the same dash to the starting position, i.e. to the center of square
- As soon as the player reaches the center, the coach (partner) names the next peak
Square
Exercise performed for 60-90 seconds .
Then you can switch roles. For starters, 2-3 sets will be enough, and then move on to 4-6 sets with a 1-2 minute break. If you are training a group of players, then change them every 60 seconds. This exercise coolly combines the training of both the physical and psychological state. It is interesting to see how often a tired player is unable to remember the number of the vertex to which he should run.
Combine these basketball speed exercises with other speed workouts. Together they will help to significantly increase the speed and quality of movement around the site.
And that's it, the article about what kind of training exercises will help you most effectively develop leg speed is over. I am sure that it will be useful for both players and coaches. I wish you successful training, great matches and see you soon on the pages of this site.
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In the world of sports, the fastest and fastest athletes tend to be the most successful. But what type of speed is best for basketball? Therefore, training should be carried out with this in mind. Doing a speed workout from different starting positions, such as turning, accelerating from a side shift, or running after getting up from the floor, translates into a more "real" workout for basketball players than just lining up on one baseline and sprinting on another.
Three tips that can help athletes plan a program designed to improve their basketball speed:
▶️ Development of strength
Before doing any work on the development of speed, the athlete must have sufficient strength 💪🏽 Studies have shown that Strength training can improve movement speed. It's about building strong muscles that can help us increase speed.
Basic Speed Boost Program includes
🔹 strengthening the legs with exercises such as calf raises, squats;
🔹 strengthen the upper body with exercises such as bench press, seated press; and core muscles (abdomen and back) with flexion, medicine ball crunch, oblique rotation, and back extension.![]()
Working on acceleration and speed
The key is how fast you can accelerate. This is arguably more important in basketball than straight-line speed because, unlike a sport like track and field where all runners start at the same time, basketball players must react quickly when they need to start moving—for example, rebounding after a shot. leading to a fast break. In basketball, it is important to be able to quickly accelerate both from a place and while moving ⛹🏽♂️
Training that focuses on learning the correct 45-degree body position to initiate acceleration, or using the correct arm movement for sprinting, can be helpful in this type of training. Each of these seemingly simple yet often overlooked aspects of acceleration can help athletes improve their starting sprint.
❗️ Don't forget to slow down ❗️
Speed training without taking into account sudden stops is like learning to drive fast without brakes. Athletes need efficient speed, and efficient speed means being fast but in control.
