In basketball, having a strong vertical jump and flash-like agility isn’t an option, it’s a requirement. If you are having trouble with your vertical jump or agility, just practicing lay-ups and running laps around the court doesn’t mean you will get any better. When you want to jump higher and have insane side-to-side agility reflexes, you need to base your basketball skills training on the best and most proven exercises. Here is a basketball skills training program that must be in your weekly workouts for explosiveness.
7 Basketball Skills Training
1. Jump Squats
This upgraded version of the traditional fitness exercise is sure to skyrocket your vertical jump. What’s more, it develops explosive power that will easily come in handy with your agility on the court. It activates the fast-twitch fibers of several major muscle groups in the lower body including the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and calves. If you want to jump higher, these are a must.
How to Perform: Stand tall with your feet at shoulder-width distance. Keep your chest up as you bend at the knees and sit back as if you’re about to sit in a chair. Once your thighs reach parallel, push through your heels in an explosive jump straight up in the air. Land softly and immediately go into your next jump squat.
Ability Focus:
Vertical Jump
Explosive Power
2. Tuck Knee Jumps
Another great way to increase your explosive power, tuck knee jumps aren’t just a way for you to jump higher. They also demand lower body control to bring the knees up, touch the chest, and return before you land. This exercise will increase coordination, fast-twitch fiber control, and, of course, all-out power.
How to Perform: Stand tall with your chest up and feet at shoulder-width apart. Similar to the jump squat, you’ll start by bending slightly at the knees and driving your hips back only a little bit. From here, jump straight up into the air. Simultaneously flex your pelvis and bring your knees up towards your chest. Reverse the motion and land softly. Take a pause to correct any posture issues then perform the next repetition.
Focus:
Vertical Jump
Explosive Power
Lower body control
3. Overhead Reaching Jump
Consider this the next level of the jump squat. It will combine the explosive upward motion of the jump squat with a standard overhead reach that is all too common in your sport. You might find that you can jump higher with this variation of the exercise from the momentum of the overhead reach itself. We don’t need to tell you how important a strong overhead reach is for defense and catching passes.
How to Perform: Stand tall with your chest up and feet at shoulder-width apart. Similar to the two exercises above, you’ll start by bending slightly at the knees and driving your hips back only a little bit. From here, jump straight up into the air. The big difference is that as you jump, you’ll simultaneously launch your hands skyward. As you descend, bring your hands into a defensive position close to the chest. Land soft, readjust your posture, and begin again.
Focus:
· Vertical Jump
· Explosive Power
· Reaching ability
4. Single-Legged Cross Jumps
Training your body, regardless of the athletic goal, requires a balance of multi-joint and isolation movements. When you isolate a muscle group, you are strengthening its ability to perform a specific movement, which in turn will support the larger muscle group movements. In this case of improving your jumping ability and agility, you’ll want to perform single-legged cross jumps.
How to Perform: You will make the shape of a cross with thisjumping drill. Start on the left leg with the right leg tucked behind. With your chest up and core tight, leap forward with your left leg. While still facing forward, leap on your left leg to the left side and down. Now leap directly to the right, and finally back to the starting position. Switch legs and begin again.
Focus:
Vertical Jump
Explosive Power
Agility
5. Wall Touches / Cone Taps
Let’s focus more on the agility side of things, although explosive power will continue to be developed and improve your vertical jump. A classic athletic drill, wall touches or cone taps are great for developing those quick reflexes that will show in your improved agility.
How to Perform: Set up two cones a good distance apart from one another. Begin in the middle of the cones. If you’re using walls, stand between two walls. An indoor racquet ball court works best. Sprint to your right as fast as you can, tap the cone or wall, then immediately change direction and do the same on the other side. You can vary the distances for each set that you do. If you’re using cones, you can also add a second or third pair in a ladder-like arrangement, where you’ll have to sprint in a zig-zag fashion from side to side.
Focus:
Agility
Explosive Power
6. Lateral Plyometric Box Jumps
Everyone performs box jumps, even the Average Joes at the gym. For basketball players, box jumps are going to be incredibly important but there’s a twist: you’ll be jumping in a lateral fashion. Lateral box jumps will strengthen your hip flexors, which will benefit your side-to-side agility with an emphasis on sudden stop-and-go.
How to Perform: Arrange a steady box on the ground. Stand next to it with your left side facing the box. Keep your chest up and core tight as you slightly bend your knees. Explosively leap from the ground and completely on the box. You can choose to step down or lightly jump back into the starting position. Once you finish your prescribed repetitions, switch sides. Make sure you vary the height of the boxes during the workout, challenging yourself to increase the height.
Focus:
Explosive Power
Agility
Jumping Ability
7. Uphill Sprints
Our final workout is a classic that is used by athletes in every sport, but uphill sprints have a unique place in the basketball player’s workout. Uphill sprints dramatically improve your endurance levels, but more importantly for performance, they skyrocket your explosive power and lower body strength.
How to Perform: Begin with a warm-up before tackling sprints. Starting from the bottom of a hill, give yourself about 10 to 20 feet to work up your speed. Run for those 10 to 20 feet then once you hit the hill, go all out. Run as fast as you can until you reach the top of the hill, walk back down, rest for a few moments, and do it again. Do not sprint down the hill.
Focus:
Explosive Power
Lower Body Strength
Get More Training Drills
How Basketball Players Jump High Above The Rim – Get Hyped Sports
Jumping high is an important skill to develop for all athletes for all basketball players. Developing those muscles and doing the right exercises can help add inches to your vertical.
Basketball players can jump high because of their power on the ground, which helps them propel high in the air. To generate power, basketball players should lift weights to strengthen their muscles.
We often see players like Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or Russell Westbrook fly high above the rim. Let’s find out how basketball players jump high.
How Basketball Players Jump High In The Air
Jumping high in the air requires a strong base and proper technique. The poor jumping technique can cause you to lose inches off your vertical. This is the difference between grabbing a rebound and missing out on a rebound.
Power from jumping is generated from the ground up. Loading up your lower half and generating enough force off the ground to leap high in the air is how we can disconnect ourselves from gravity.
To generate power from the ground, we need to have strong legs. Strong upper bodies are great to move players out of the way with our arms. However, jumping requires a strong lower half and powerful lower extremities.
What Muscles Are Used To Jump High In Basketball?
We need to learn what muscle groups contribute directly to jumping high in the air to jump higher. To start from the bottom, the calves, quadricepses (quads), hamstring, and glute muscles are the core muscles when jumping.
Again, we want to emphasize the visualization that your body must put force into the ground and push off of it, using these muscles to jump higher.
Calf Muscles
Let’s start with the Calf Muscle. The calf muscle is the closest to the ground out of the four muscles we mentioned. See the image below to identify the calf muscle and this article for an in-depth look at the calf muscle.
Training the calf muscle is extremely tough. It doesn’t account for a large portion of the jumping power, but it does play a small significant role. One way to help improve the calf muscle is to use jump soles.
Jump soles are attachments to your shoes that can focus all the weight on the big toe and calf muscle, helping them grow with repetition.
Hamstrings/Quads/Glutes
These muscles are the powerhouse muscles of the legs. They help generate almost all the force put into the ground.
As Livestrong mentions, the gluteus maximums and hamstrings are hip extensor muscles extending the hip when you stand straight. When you point your toes before leaving the ground, you perform a motion known as plantar flexion.
This requires the calf muscles, your gastrocnemius, and soleus to come into play. Training these muscles is crucial for athletes looking to run faster and significantly jump higher.
Exercises To Help Jump Higher In Basketball
Now that we understand the muscle groups let’s train these muscles to be as strong as possible. The exercises below can be done in your living room or a gym. If you’re looking to build the muscle, weight must be added to challenge the strength of each muscle.
Squats
Squatting is one of the best, if not the best, lifts to help improve your vertical jump. It involved every muscle in your body, on top of building a strong core.
We recommend air squats and focusing on the perfect form before putting a barbell on your back. This will save you from injuries from improper depth or not poor weight balance.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts have become insanely popular over the years. What seemed to be primarily a competition lift, dead-lifts are an excellent lift for building glutes, hamstring, and hip muscles.
Like the squats, we recommend focusing on extremely lightweight before performing these lifts. The poor form could result in lower back injuries, which may be long-term.
Lunges
Generating lower body power requires pushing and exploding from certain angles and positions, not just straight up and down.
The forward lunge helps generate force with your hamstrings and glutes but pushes backward.
Adding weight to your hands by using dumbbells is a great way to build strength for these muscles. Again, we cannot stress the importance of proper form!
Tools To Help Increase Your Vertical Jump
There are many tools available to help improve your vertical jump. Strengthening muscles to help gain new vertical heights and following a specific program can help speed that process.
One program we highly recommend is the Vert Shock Program.
The Vert Shock program offers 3 phase program, which you can follow to increase your overall vertical jump. These simple steps will help you improve your vertical jump in no time.
Also included in the bundle is a mobile app to stay on course, a maintenance program, and video add-ins for even more knowledge.
This program is the king of vertical jump, and we highly recommend it! If you want to add more tools to your training regimen, we’ve collected a few tools and the jump soles, which can help improve your vertical jump.
Ankle & Hip Resistance bands
Similar to how we want to increase our speed training using resistance bands, they can be used to train vertical jumping. These resistance bands attach to a custom belt and an ankle strap.
The bands lockout, and you push off the ground and start to ascend vertically. Adjust the bands to your size/strength for maximum use. These bands are relatively cheap compared to the jump soles and can be a great tool to build your jumping foundation.
Thigh Resistance Bands
These resistance bands attach to the thigh and are great for leg drive. These bands will help develop glutes, hamstrings, and thigh muscles if you’re sprinting or working a stationary leg exercise.
Attach the adjustable strap to each thing, connect the resistance cord, and start working out. These bands are super easy to use and complement strength training and/or using the hip/ankle bands above.
Conclusion
Vertical jumping can be increased by training the muscles that help drive force into the ground.
Training these muscles through resistance and good form will help them grow and improve your overall vertical. Start training today to have your muscles ready to go when basketball season hits!
How to increase the jump? 5 tips
Every basketball player dreamed of jumping higher.
Every basketball player dreamed of jumping higher.
LOOKING AT MICHAEL, KOBE, VINC AND LEBRON? WANTED TO JUMP ALSO HIGH AND SCORE FROM THE TOP? PRACTICALLY EVERY BASKETBALL PLAYER WANTED THIS.
We asked our coach Sergey Nagorny to give 5 tips to help improve your jump.
We asked our coach Sergey Nagorny to give 5 tips to help improve your jump.
"The more power you have and the more you can apply power to the ground, the higher you can potentially jump. To increase your strength, you can choose any exercise: pulls, squats, lunges. Do what you like best and gradually increase the weight of the weights. "
Sergey Nagorny
Physical trainer training
Strength increase
Speed increase
"In addition to strength, the jump depends on speed, so this component also needs to be worked on. The easiest way is to sprint for short distances from 10 to 40-60 meters, and also work with sleds. "
Sergey Nagorny
Physical trainer training
"This advice applies to both the workout itself and resting between sets, as well as recovery between sessions. People often start turning speed and jump workouts into endurance work. If you don't recover enough between sets and between workouts, then you you will never develop your jump to the maximum."
Sergey Nagorny
Physical trainer training
Proper rest
"Same skill as throw, snatch, etc. You have to be able to move efficiently. Jump more often - move more efficiently, but don't forget about recovery."
Sergey Nagorny
Physical trainer training
Jumping is a skill
Sleep more and eat right
"We are all looking for ways to recover better and use different modern gadgets to do this, but it all starts with simple things. Good sleep and proper nutrition are must-have items for a better recovery that everyone has at hand. "
Sergey Nagorny
Physical trainer training
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Coach: Sergey Nagorny
Professional athlete, works with athletes from Russia and the CIS. Performing dunker, creator and host of the Action video channel about athleticism in team sports.
Do you want to increase your jump and improve your athleticism? Look for "Basketball Athleticism" and "White Men Can Jump" workouts in our schedule and sign up.
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How to learn to jump high? - Sport Collection
Higher! Farther! Faster! - the motto of any athlete. Not a single victory is possible without this attitude, but today we will talk about “ABOVE!” About the dream of many athletes to have good jumping ability, because not everyone has this talent, but many people are interested in whether hard training can achieve high jumps. This goal can be faced by both amateur athletes and professional athletes who must master the high jump in order to achieve long-awaited victories.
The ability to jump high, while controlling its body, it is required in such sports as:
Basketball
Ski sports
Snowboarding
Jump -ups 9010
parkour
acrobatics
choreography
extreme sports
figure skating
volleyball
gymnastics
dancing
And this is not the whole list of sports where jumping ability is needed as an additional skill.
How to learn to jump high?
High jump is a great physical activity, so the development of such a skill should be approached seriously and under the guidance of a person who understands how it is done. Proper strength training, systematic exercises and rational load distribution will help everyone master the technique, but it is important to understand that this will take time, which means perseverance and patience. The main thing is to know that the goal is achievable and competently move towards it.
The development of jumping from a vertical position develops coordination, strengthens muscles, which makes the athlete better control his body, his endurance grows. Any jumper knows how to land correctly from different heights, which is always useful not only in sports.
The jump mechanism consists of the following phases:
takeoff run
preparation for the push from the ground
repulsion
flight
landing
What muscles work when jumping?
Physical fitness in general is the key to successful training, you can not work only with the muscles of the legs, for example, while having a flaccid shoulder girdle.
Calves
The calf muscles should be developed for a strong push from the surface, as well as to prevent various injuries.
Ankles, feet and ankles
They have a very serious load during the run-up and especially landing, so these fragile areas of the legs should be strengthened by gymnastics and be sure to warm them up before training. This will help avoid injury.
Knees
Considered to be one of the most fragile places during jumps, therefore it is worth not only learning how to land correctly and safely, but also strengthening the knees by doing special exercises.
Muscles of the thighs and buttocks
The development of these muscles will help you make a good run-up and a powerful push. The anterior thigh muscle helps to throw the body up, which means that a lot of attention is paid to strengthening it.
Experts advise starting such classes, preferably with an experienced trainer, but if you decide to do it yourself, then listen to our advice.
1) Safety
Do not start training on a concrete floor or grass without elbow and knee shock absorbers. For jumping at the initial stage, mats or tatami are well suited to prevent injury during falls.
2) Complete warm-up
Muscles and joints must be thoroughly warmed up and stretched to be ready for a big load.
3) Regularity of training
Classes should be with a gradual load.
The best exercises for developing jumping ability
There are many developed techniques for developing jumping ability, but many consider one of the most effective exercises to be jumping on a box or platform. This helps to jump high without a run-up and strengthens the muscles of the legs. I must say that the first time not everyone succeeds in jumping onto the box from a place, especially if it is high. The main thing is not to despair, but try to take a lower platform, master the jump, and then gradually increase the height. For those who are unable to push off from a place, you can start with a small take-off, which we gradually begin to reduce. After such a workout, be sure to give the muscles a rest and do not forget about stretching to relax the muscles.
Landing is an important part of the jump, because it is at this stage that you can get injured if you do not follow the technique.
And it consists in landing on soft, bent at the knees legs, as if springing them, when jumping from a great height, you can squat down. Straight, tense legs, and the same body are unacceptable during landing. The torso is tilted at a 45° angle, the legs are bent at the knees, the toes are pulled down because the landing starts on the toes, then the heel drops. Hands should be put forward a little.
Training program
Stage one - jumping rope.
250-300 jumps, non-stop and fast. Such jumps develop breathing, strengthen all the necessary muscles and joints. To increase the load over time, you can perform jumps with weight and with a lot of jumps.
Stage two - squats
These exercises are best done with weight, it can be a backpack with a load or a barbell on the shoulders. You need to perform 10-15 squats, 5-7 approaches with breaks of several minutes. This exercise perfectly develops all the leg muscles necessary for high jumps.
Step three - calf raises
Raise your toes as high as you can and gently lower your entire foot. You need to repeat from 20 to 50 times, until burning in the calves.
Fourth stage - jumping
You can perform this exercise in different ways - jumping on a box or platform, or high jumping to any goal (basketball basket or a ball suspended from a tree) You can jump from different takeoffs - from 10 to 5 steps, pushing off with one and two feet.
How often do you practice?
The optimal frequency of training is two or three times a week, the duration of the session is 1. 5-2 hours.
It is not necessary to exercise every day, so that there is no great burden on the body. To begin with, all exercises should be performed at an average pace, within your own physical capabilities.
From session to session, the number of approaches and repetitions will increase, the observance of gradualness in any training leads to the expected result.
Training equipment
knee pads, elbow pads
weights - special belts and sandbags for legs and arms, or a backpack with something heavy
rope
dumbbells for jumping exercises or exercises for weights
stable box
Psychological aspect
Sports psychologists explain to athletes how important the mental attitude is before any training in order to achieve their goals. It is important to clearly visualize in your imagination all the stages of the jump in detail: run, muscle tension, upward impulse, landing.
From here, jump straight up into the air. Simultaneously flex your pelvis and bring your knees up towards your chest. Reverse the motion and land softly. Take a pause to correct any posture issues then perform the next repetition.
From here, jump straight up into the air. The big difference is that as you jump, you’ll simultaneously launch your hands skyward. As you descend, bring your hands into a defensive position close to the chest. Land soft, readjust your posture, and begin again.
While still facing forward, leap on your left leg to the left side and down. Now leap directly to the right, and finally back to the starting position. Switch legs and begin again.
If you’re using cones, you can also add a second or third pair in a ladder-like arrangement, where you’ll have to sprint in a zig-zag fashion from side to side.
Make sure you vary the height of the boxes during the workout, challenging yourself to increase the height.
Developing those muscles and doing the right exercises can help add inches to your vertical.
Strong upper bodies are great to move players out of the way with our arms. However, jumping requires a strong lower half and powerful lower extremities. 
One way to help improve the calf muscle is to use jump soles.
What seemed to be primarily a competition lift, dead-lifts are an excellent lift for building glutes, hamstring, and hip muscles. 
Strengthening muscles to help gain new vertical heights and following a specific program can help speed that process.
Adjust the bands to your size/strength for maximum use. These bands are relatively cheap compared to the jump soles and can be a great tool to build your jumping foundation. 
" 
" 
Not a single victory is possible without this attitude, but today we will talk about “ABOVE!” About the dream of many athletes to have good jumping ability, because not everyone has this talent, but many people are interested in whether hard training can achieve high jumps. This goal can be faced by both amateur athletes and professional athletes who must master the high jump in order to achieve long-awaited victories. 
Proper strength training, systematic exercises and rational load distribution will help everyone master the technique, but it is important to understand that this will take time, which means perseverance and patience. The main thing is to know that the goal is achievable and competently move towards it. 
For those who are unable to push off from a place, you can start with a small take-off, which we gradually begin to reduce. After such a workout, be sure to give the muscles a rest and do not forget about stretching to relax the muscles. 
5-2 hours. 
