How to increase foot speed for basketball

Having quick feet is very critical in basketball. It is needed in every facet of the game, whether on offense or defense. Whether you want to improve your slashing or on-ball defense, it pays if you take the time to improve your footwork.

With that being said, keep in mind that in order to achieve better quickness and agility, your body must be ready for it. That means you have to strengthen your core while improving your balance and coordination. Doing so makes it easier for your body to adapt to agility drills.

The best basketball agility drills to do are agility ladder drills for basketball. They look fancy at first, but they are actually pretty simple. If you want to know how to get quick feet, start with body strengthening and then ladder drills. Once you get the hang of it, you will definitely see improvements, skills that come in handy when you play basketball. 

We hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, be sure to check out our other basketball FAQ articles here.

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Development of leg speed and speed at home

Hello, dear visitors of the website basketball-training.org.ua ! The idea of ​​writing this article came to me during one of the last games. It so happened that in it I had to defend against a rather fast opponent, for whom I absolutely did not have time with my feet. The problem was this: in fast breaks I could still catch up with him, but as soon as it came to the classic defensive stance, I was passed around like a standing man! And all this at the expense of an incredibly fast, explosive first step.

That is why, as soon as I got home, I was determined to find a way to develop leg speed, given that I would have to practice at home, where I would have no more than 5 meters of free space and virtually no additional devices. Let's see what came of it.

There are at least two ways to start moving faster and, most importantly, sharper: train your legs so that they move faster on the floor, and use “little tricks”, that is, develop the very technique of moving in a defensive stance. Naturally, not all of us are lovers of easy ways, but often they are the most logical. So I propose to start with the “useful little things” that Rick Torbet talks about in the training video “ Better 1 on 1 Defense ". By the way, if you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend doing it: the 8-part personal protection video tells a lot of useful things, and even if you don’t speak English, still take an hour of your time and watch it. I promise you won't regret it.

Development of leg speed: little tricks

Let's start with the most important thing - the defensive stance. It is very important to learn the correct defensive stance, which can be very different from what you are used to. So, the main thing in a defensive stance is good body balance. We have already talked about the importance of balance and methods of its development on the pages of this site, in the materials of Evgeny Burin ( General physical training of basketball players: part 1 and OFP: part 2 ). Now, the key to a proper guard stance is to keep your head in line with your knees. If it is slightly behind the conditional line - you will fall back, or fall forward - if it is ahead.

The second moment - when moving right-left, forward-backward, you should practically not take your feet off the ground, you seem to be sliding on the parquet. This method of movement will reduce the time between repulsions from the ground, which means it will increase the speed of movement and change of direction.

The third point is the foot. It must be turned in the direction in which you are moving. Yes, it will really speed up your movement. And now let's see everything that I described above in a small video. The first part is about balance, then - about the minimum distance from the legs to the parquet, and the third - about the correct setting of the foot. I think, after such an explanation, the translation will be superfluous.

[youtube]VhWFyd97Xs8[/youtube]

Well, these little tricks will allow you to quickly move around the site, sharply changing the direction of movement. And now, let's move on to the actual development of the speed qualities of the leg muscles, and for this we will use a very interesting simulator that each of us can make from improvised means in a few minutes.

Ladder Agility Drills

Ladder agility drills - this is the name of a series of exercises with a rope ladder located on the floor, are a great way to improve footwork speed, agility, coordination and overall speed on the court. These exercises are an integral part of many SAQ programs (Speed ​​Agility Quickness Programs - programs for developing speed, agility and quickness) and complement a variety of training complexes in many sports.

These exercises are based on the principle “ Quality is more important than quantity ”, which means that after performing them you will not get tired and will not “breathe”, as, for example, after “ Super Shuttle ”. It is best to start these exercises at the very beginning of your workout, immediately after warming up and stretching, because the muscles must be fresh in order to provide good, quality movements. And again, after doing these exercises, your muscles will still be ready for a fairly intense workout, so don't worry: you won't overload them with these exercises! Let's move on to the exercises themselves.

Exercises for the development of agility, speed and quickness of footwork

Exercise No. 1 – “classics”. This is one of the easiest agility exercises and is suitable for everyone.

• Begin the exercise in a starting position at the bottom of the stairs, feet shoulder-width apart.
• Jump forward with both feet and land on the first sector of the ladder on your left foot.
• Next, pushing off with your left foot, jump forward again, but land on two feet.
• Push off with both feet again, jump forward and land on the right foot.
• Pushing off only with the right foot, jump forward and land on two feet. This is 1 cycle. Repeat this cycle until the ladder ends.

Exercise No. 2 - "inside-out". This is another basic exercise, however, it is very effective.

• Begin the exercise with your feet shoulder-width apart before starting the stairs.
• Step (don't jump, but step) into the first section of the ladder, first with your left foot and then with your right foot.
• Once the right foot has entered the first section, immediately place the left foot to the left of the next section of the ladder, then the right foot to the right of the ladder.
• Again, step your left foot into the inside of the stairs, and then also step your right foot (as if to return to the previous position).
• Repeat this movement pattern until the ladder ends.

Exercise No. 3 - "step to the side" . This exercise will require more concentration and coordination of movements from you. Make a few trial attempts at low speed, and after that start working at full power.

• Start the exercise by standing near the lower left corner of the stairs (we started the exercise in the center before, but now we need to move a little to the left).
• Step onto the first section with your left foot, and without stopping immediately step there with your right (as if doing a jump, or jump stop; in the original this movement is called "1-2 motion", minimize the time between each step).
• Now you need to move to the right of the current section, again placing first the left and then the right foot.
• Now step diagonally to the left and up, again using the left and then the right foot.
• Move to the left as you exit the stairs, first with your left foot and then with your right foot. Here we are in the starting position.
• Continue in the same way to the end of the stairs. If you decide to perform this exercise several times, then each time start moving from the opposite side of the stairs, so your leading foot (in the example it is the left foot) will change regularly.

Exercise No. 4 - "Tango" . This exercise was named after a famous dance, and once you do it, you will immediately understand why.

• Begin this exercise by standing at the bottom left of the stairs (as in the previous exercise).
• Step your left foot over your right foot and stand in the middle of the first section.
• Continue without stopping, place your right foot at the level of the crossbar between the first and second section, and immediately place your left foot near the right.
• This exercise is performed on the count of 1-2-3, as in a dance.
• From this position, the right foot steps over the left and stands in the center of the second section of the ladder, then the left foot…..

oh, I can no longer describe these manipulations, I'm afraid that reading them you will get confused on the contrary. Let's just look at the picture, everything is quite clear and without explanation. Yes, you need to repeat the exercise until the ladder ends. "Tango"

Exercise No. 5 - "Five Steps". This is the most difficult exercise of all presented here, it will require a very high level of training and innate dexterity to complete it. But if you learn to perform this exercise smoothly, without breaking down and at high speed, most of your opponents simply will not be able to keep up with your movements.

• Starting position - feet shoulder width apart, standing in front of the stairs in the center.
• Stand with your right foot to the right of the first section of the ladder, almost simultaneously placing your left foot on the first section of the ladder.
• The right foot moves to the left, after which the left moves to the second section (i.e. steps forward), and the right goes after it.
• Movement consists of 5 steps - this is the first phase. The second is almost similar to this one, but the movement begins in the left leg. The exercise must be repeated along the entire length of the stairs.

That's all, the article came to an end, which told about how you can develop the speed of footwork at home. As for the stairs - of course you can buy it, you can make it from improvised materials, you can stick pieces of adhesive tape on the floor - in general, it all depends on your imagination and materials at hand.

Update: Sometimes I duplicate articles from this site on my blog, which is located on slamdunk.ru. In one of the comments, I was advised to watch this video about training with stairs. There are actually a lot of similar videos on Youtube, but I liked this one and didn't look any further. As a matter of fact, here it is:

[youtube]qhPN7B9bisU[/youtube]

Good luck with your training and see you soon on the pages of this site!

How to develop foot speed in football.

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Published: 10/14/2015 08:42

A great way to develop leg speed and agility, improve coordination and increase speed on the surface is training with the coordination ladder Speed ​​Ladder.

Exercises for leg speed - do not involve overload, they are aimed at the quality of movements. It is best to include ladder exercises at the beginning of your regular workout, after warming up. Your muscles need to be fresh to ensure the quality of the movement. And you should have a lot of strength left to continue training for resistance or endurance. To be the best and get ahead of your opponents, you need to train your legs for speed and endurance, as well as improve your movement technique using all sorts of tricks.

Important: take your time, first make sure you do each exercise correctly. We work on the principle: "quality is more important than quantity". Gradually build up the pace. For convenience, print out pictures of exercises and take them with you to training. We offer several ladder exercises to train leg speed. You can develop your own. It is important to observe the correctness and frequency of movements.

And some simple tips:

• always keep your head straight and in line with your knees to maintain balance;
• when moving, the legs should break away from the surface at a minimum distance, which reduces the time when changing movement, increases the speed of the legs, as if you are sliding on the surface;
• arms, shoulders relaxed during exercise.