Off the court
Ever wondered what sort of workouts you can do outside the court to make you faster and stronger?
The answer is plyometrics, my friend.
Plyometrics are high-intensity exercises built around explosive, fast movement — the kind that demands a lot of energy in a very short space of time. Most of them will especially develop your legs and glutes.
You can imagine that athletes such as basketball players benefit hugely from these training sessions. Think of the movements you make when making or blocking shots from any place on the court. Plyometrics can help basketball players sharpen exactly those moves.
Be careful though. This routine is not for beginners. Your body needs to be prepared for the challenging movements, which is why we generally mix plyometric work with other strength-building exercises rather than overdoing it on its own.
What plyometrics actually train
A true plyometric movement uses the stretch-shortening cycle — the muscle and tendon rapidly absorb force while lengthening, then immediately reverse direction and produce force.
That’s the dip before a jump. The landing before the next bound. The fraction of a second where all the useful work happens.
It matters for basketball because almost nothing on a court gives you time. You get one contact with the floor to change direction, one dip before you go up for the rebound. Being strong is useful. Being able to express that strength inside a fraction of a second is what actually gets you off the ground.
Kinds of exercises
There are several exercises you can do to improve lower and upper body strength and explosiveness, both of which matter for basketball.
Front and lateral jumps
These help increase strength in the legs and will help with changing the body’s direction while dunking or jumping in different positions, or hopping quickly from one place to another.
A speed ladder is a great tool here. Try different movements — jumping sideways, two steps forward and one back, high jumps. Really, your imagination is the limit with these.
Power and tuck jumps
This involves jumping high into the air, bringing your knees close to the chest, and returning them in place as you land.
These are very high intensity, as you will soon discover. Do them at the beginning of your training, when energy levels are still high.
Plyo push-ups
This one reinforces the shoulders and chest. The exercise is quite difficult by itself, but practice makes perfect and you will get the hang of it. You can increase the difficulty by adding a clap between push-ups.
Preparing for the session
It’s important that the body is properly warmed up before you begin plyometric work. A proper warm-up helps you avoid injuries and get maximum performance out of the session.
Ideally, include no more than three of these exercises, because of their intensity.
It’s also important to know that the body needs adequate rest. I recommend around 72 hours between sessions to let the body recover.
Five good jumps beat twenty-five tired ones. Every time.
The moment your landings get sloppy and your ground contacts get long, you have stopped training power and started training fatigue. That’s the point to stop.
Instant strength and force
Plyometrics are extremely beneficial for improving the vertical jumping power of basketball players — and the research backs that up. A meta-analysis found that plyometric training improves sprint performance, particularly when it includes horizontal movement and sport-specific patterns (Sáez de Villarreal et al., 2012).
Better balance, coordination and control are essential if you want to be among the top performers. By including plyometric exercises in your training you increase the amount of power your muscles can produce, and that shows up on the court.
So start implementing these exercises today.
Want the full picture?
Plyometrics are one part of a bigger system. If you want to understand how they sit alongside heavy strength work, sprinting and sled training — and why rest between efforts matters more than most people think — read Want to get faster? Train your body to produce force fast.
- Basketball
- fitness
- plyometrics
- power training
