Strength and Conditioning for Basketball | By Said Salem
Needless to say, Basketball is played at an extremely high intensity. To play the game to a high level, not only do you need to be a skilful player, but you also need to be physically prepared. I consider basketball to be a“ mixed sport” when it comes to the demands of it because not only does it require a high level of strength, speed and power, but it also requires a high level of cardiovascular conditioning and endurance, as games are played over a relatively long duration, and at a high intensity. A strength and conditioning coach needs to find the right balance between strength, speed and power and also ensure his players are sufficiently conditioned.
Acceleration and Agility
For a basketball player the ability to accelerate and change direction is extremely important. For example a study found that a change of event occurs every 3.8 seconds during competitive games [ 1. 1 ] along with this, it reported that players average 105 forward sprints per game [ 1. 1 ] also it has been found that basketball players average 114 medium intensity and 63 high intensity lateral and backward shuffles per game [ 1. 1 ]. This research clearly highlights the need to players to be able to accelerate quickly and change direction fast. Now, how do we increase player’ s ability to accelerate? Strength is a key component for this, for example a study found that squatting strength significantly correlates with 10 and 30 meter sprint times [ 1. 3 ]. Another factor a coach should consider when trying to improve an athlete’ s acceleration is how they run. An athlete needs to have a good forward lean, and drive with their arms and legs to maximize their ability to accelerate.
When training agility, coaches should set up“ reactive agility” drills for their athletes, this is because in basketball, players react to unpredictable events in the game, thus pre planned agility drills aren’ t going carry over well to real game performances. A good drill would have an event where the players have to react to a stimulus, for example have the players sprint towards a cone, and then signal to them to run right or left, the players will then have to react to this and make a fast change of direction.
Vertical Jump Ability
Elite basketball players are famous for having brilliant vertical jumps which can produce spectacular slam dunks. However not only do players jump to dunk but they use it to help them block shots, catch rebounds and perform jump shots during a game. Basketball player’ s jump at a high frequency during a game, it is reported that player’ s average 44 jumps during a game [ 1. 1 ]. Improving vertical jump can be a complicated subject and warrants its own article, as each player will have individual difference when it comes to how they need to train to best improve their jumping ability. Strength, power and speed are all essential qualities for a massive vertical jump, for example studies have found that maximal squatting strength is correlated with jumping height [ 1. 2 ]. However along with this other exercises along the strength spectrum have been shown to be beneficial for jumping ability, like Olympic lifting which is a power based style of training and also plyometric which are performed at high speed, for example bounds and jumps.
Sports Passion The Magazine | 23 August 2013 | Issue No. 1