Improving
Explosiveness on the
By: Alan
Stein, CCS, CSCS
Explosiveness, as it pertains
to basketball, is a combination of strength, power, conditioning, flexibility,
and skill proficiency. These traits are vital to the success of basketball
players at every level and are characteristics that can be improved through
proper training. The days of just playing pick-up at the gym are over. If you really want your players to play reach
their potential on the court, you must encourage them to do things outside of just playing basketball to
improve their game. It is important they participate in a truly comprehensive
training program in order to maximize their athletic ability. As such, in addition to their fundamentals, your
players need to include strength training exercises, low level plyometrics,
conditioning drills, and flexibility movements.
This article will focus primarily plyometrics and ways to become more
explosive on the basketball court!
A properly
implemented training program can improve your team’s overall performance by
getting them to run faster, jump higher, and box out stronger! As you know, the
game of basketball consists of short, high intensity bursts of energy that
include sprinting, back pedaling, defensive sliding, and jumping. Therefore, your workouts should reflect these
movement patterns. It is important your
team can compete at a high level of intensity for the entire game. The
difference between good teams and great teams is that great teams don’t get tired and are still
explosive late in the game.
The goal of
this article is to share safe, efficient, and productive training concepts for
players and teams of all ages and levels. Both male and female players, from junior
high school to the professional level, can utilize these principles and
guidelines.
What are plyometrics?
One of the biggest buzz words in the industry is plyometrics. Plyometrics are exercises that usually involve some form of explosive movement such as a jumping, hopping, or bounding movement for the lower body, as well as some type of swinging, pushing, and throwing for the upper body. Plyometrics are designed to increase power, coordination, balance, and quickness.
How do they work?
Plyometric exercises use the force of gravity or of a weighted medicine ball to store potential energy in the muscles, and then immediately release this energy in the opposite direction. The energy stored, in addition to physiological responses and mechanisms in the body (myotatic reflex) during the eccentric (negative, muscle lengthening) phase of a muscle contraction, is used to produce a more powerful concentric (positive, muscle shortening) phase of muscle contraction, in other words, a more “explosive” movement.
Are they safe?
If plyometric exercises are appropriately picked and supervised, they can
be a safe and productive supplemental training tool. The game of basketball itself is already very
plyometric in nature, so adding a large volume of additional plyometric
exercises can be counterproductive and produce overuse injuries including
orthopedic trauma to the joints, tendons, ligaments, and bones that occur from
too much impact. Unlike many other
sports, today’s basketball players play year round with no real
off-season. While plyometric exercises –
commonly referred to as ‘Plyo’s’ - can be implemented carefully into a program,
it is imperative to pick only the safest exercises and use as soft of a surface
as possible to reduce the orthopedic stress placed on the body. It is not
necessarily the jumping that could potentially cause a problem, but rather the
landing! Be very cautious when having
players jump off of boxes and/or
performing weighted jumps. As you will
see from the pictures below, I have our players jump on to boxes, not off of
them. This ensures we maximize the
positive part of jumping (explosiveness) and minimize the negative part (impact
from landing).
How do you improve explosiveness?
Explosiveness
is an important ingredient in the game of basketball. Players and coaches are constantly in search
of ways to jump higher and run faster.
After all, with all else equal, the player or team who can run faster
and jump higher has a tremendous advantage over their opponent. Vast improvements
can be made to a player’s explosiveness by implementing a structured,
progressive, and safe strength training and plyometric program, complimented by
dynamic flexibility training and court conditioning drills.
By improving
in each of the following five areas; a basketball player will become more explosive on the court:
Strength
If
a player increases the strength in their legs, hips and core, they will
automatically improve their ability to produce force, which results in increased
explosiveness. For example, the more
force a player can exert against the ground – the higher the potential to
jump. It is extremely important for a strength training program
to be safe, time efficient, and productive.
To reduce orthopedic stress while
strength training, players should work within an appropriate repetition
range (8-15 reps per set) and avoid maxing out (seeing how much they can lift
for one repetition). Players should aim
to make every strength training workout as time efficient as possible; this is
done by using a limited number of sets and exercises, thus making the workout
brief, but yet very intense. This can also be accomplished by minimizing rest
intervals in between sets to induce an overall conditioning effect. A strength program
should focus on training the entire body equally to ensure muscle balance, as
well as having each exercise taken to the point of momentary muscular fatigue
(the point at which no further reps can be achieved). Working opposing muscle
groups equally will help reduce the risk of on-court injuries, while training
at a high level of intensity will produce maximum results. All of this can be accomplished in two or
three well planned full body workouts per week, each lasting about an hour.
Power
As
obvious as it sounds, if a player wants to be able to jump higher, he or she
needs to practice jumping as high they can!
Plyometric exercises such as jumping, skipping, bounding, etc. - if
incorporated appropriately - provide a means for players to practice jumping
with maximal effort in a controlled and safe environment. Additionally, a proper plyometric program can
help train the nervous system to
perform athletic movements more efficiently. These exercises and drills should be chosen
carefully and be done in limited volume.
Again, attempts should be made to reduce as much impact and orthopedic
stress as possible. That is, try and use
soft training surfaces, make sure your players are wearing proper footwear, and
know that when it comes to plyometric training, more is not necessarily better.
Squat
jumps, broad jumps, lateral bounds, and box jumps are some common plyometric
exercises used to increase a basketball player’s explosiveness. As mentioned before, when performing box
jumps, it is highly recommended that players jump onto the boxes only; they
should walk down off of the boxes to eliminate as much impact as
possible. It is important to note that these exercises should be performed when
players’ legs are fresh; they should be done before a strength training workout
if both workouts are being performed one after the other.
Flexibility
Flexibility
is widely defined as the range of motion in a joint or group of joints. Improving flexibility in the hamstrings,
ankles, lower back, and hips, can increase a player’s potential to be
explosive. Flexibility is best accomplished by performing all strength
training movements through a full range of motion, as well as performing
dynamic flexibility exercises before
every workout or practice. The days of
sitting on the ground and static stretching are over! In addition to improving flexibility, dynamic
flexibility exercises assist in developing coordination and motor ability –
both of which are attributes that help improve a player’s explosiveness.
Skill Proficiency
Proper
skill training is the most overlooked aspect when trying to improve explosiveness
on the court. Decreasing the time it takes to perform a specific basketball skill
is in essence increasing the speed at
which the skill is performed. Thus,
increasing the speed at which a skill is executed will result in improved
explosiveness on the court. The most effective and practical way to improve
skill proficiency is to perform these skills through countless hours of
task-specific skill practice. Players
need to practice the specific skill exactly
like it will be used in competition – or at actual game speed. For example, the more efficient a guard
becomes at shooting a jump shot, the more range he or she will have. Increased proficiency means it will take less
time and effort to perform the specific skill as well as perform it more consistently. Competent coaching, studying videotape, and
hours of perfect practice are the best ways to increase skill proficiency.
Conditioning Level
A
player’s overall conditioning level is vital in his or her ability to become
more explosive. After all, what good is
improved strength and skill if it cannot be maintained for an entire game? Preventing or delaying the onset of fatigue
is crucial to performance. A
well-prepared and well-conditioned basketball player should be just as strong
and skillful in the second half of the game as they were in the first half. Again, it is important to note that being fit
and being in basketball shape are two
different things. Basketball is a game
of repeated high intensity efforts that are sustained for several minutes on
end, with minimal rest and recovery in between.
A well-designed and progressive pre-season court conditioning program
should reflect this, and will make sure players are in great basketball shape. Another necessity of being in great shape is
keeping body fat at an appropriate level.
Excess body fat is simply dead weight.
Too much dead weight will inhibit flexibility, reduce skill proficiency,
and diminish overall conditioning ability.
Keeping players’ body fat percentage at an appropriate level is
essential for maximizing their ability to be explosive on the court. In order to maintain body fat levels, players
should eat a calorically appropriate diet and adhering to a year-round
conditioning program. Please note that
additional muscle mass is not a hindrance to improving power, but rather an
asset.
In
summary, if a player wants to become more explosive on the court, and therefore
give themselves an advantage over their opponent, they need to become stronger
through productive strength training and structured plyometric drills, while at
the same time mastering the skills of shooting, ball handling, passing, defending
and boxing out. This contributes to the
goal of being in superior basketball
shape. Again, all of this can be
accomplished through a well-designed strength and conditioning program that can
be implemented year-round.
Here
is a great drill to improve explosiveness on the court:
Highest Point
Benefits:
Focus and explosiveness
Reps: 1 jump
Sets: 10-12
Rest: 5-10
seconds
Instructions:
- Player stands in a solid box out
position as if about to rebound
- Partner tosses two different
colored balls into the air (you can use painted whiffle balls, racquet
balls, or tennis balls for this drill.)
- Partner calls out a color
- Player vertically jumps to catch
the corresponding colored ball at its highest point
Coaching point: Player should stay in a low athletic stance (chest over knees over feet) and keep their hands up and active. They should try and keep the caught ball above their shoulders once caught and return to their original stance as quickly as possible.
For more information from Alan, go to www.strongerteam.com
