Basketball Agility Drills

Basketball is fun to watch and when a team scores a basket, especially the one you are supporting, then it is a time to rejoice, even if it is for a moment! I always at the ease with which the players score baskets and keep on doing it year after year, game after game. The move for the basket and the actual scoring might be a matter of a few seconds in the game, but for those few seconds of fame, these players indulge in hours of basketball practice. From specific game targeted practice sessions to overall fitness and stamina drills, these players put in a lot of hard work. One of the aspects of these practice sessions are agility drills. An elucidation on some of these drills is coming up, in case you are interested!

Basketball Speed and Agility Drills

As the name suggests, these basketball drills focus on enhancing the speed, agility and nimbleness of basketball players.

Drill #1
Alternate feet, the name of this drill aptly describes its name. It involves jumping on alternate feet. What the player does in this drill is that he or she jumps as quickly as he or she can for a minute. The catch is to jump twice on the right foot and then twice on your left foot. Coach talk suggests that 2 sets have to be done with a 30 second break.

Drill #2
Here is how this drill is done -

• On the field, keep 4 markers in a straight line around 3 yards apart.
• Then, between each set of markers, place one more marker 3 yards to the left.
• A player will sprint to marker A and follow it up with a side step or in fact a shuffle to marker B with the left leg in the lead
• Side shuffle to another marker leading with the right leg at this point.
• Do it again to till the finish.

After the player is done with a set, repeating the sets 6-8 is recommended.

Drill #3
Basketball agility drills do not just involve work on ground. Exercises in the gym, with or without the equipment can make players agile too. So one of the drills which can be done that way is the toe touch. You will have to tape 2 parallel lines on the floor, which will be around a feet apart. Then keep your right foot outside the right line and your left outside the left line. Now jump in the air and land with your feet together inside the line. Follow it up by quickly jumping outside the lines. Along with the jumping, keep your hands up all the time.

Drill #4
Using a jumping rope, even though it may seem primitive and vintage can be a fantastic one amongst agility drills for basketball. You can do lot of variations with the jumping rope. Basically it helps get the toes of the players moving and in action and serves the purpose of warm up as well. Speed jumps, running jumps are a couple of exercises you can do with jumping rope. In basketball drills for kids, jumping rope can turn out to be a lot of fun!

Drill #5
For a sprinting drill, mark out a distance of 100 meters. Start slowly and then accelerate. Gain top speed at about 60 meters and then sprint full blast for the last 40 meters. It is sure to make the players lightening quick.Basketball drills for youth can surely include this one.

Well in addition to this, there are these basketball agility ladder drills or simply agility ladder drills which are conducted by coaches for making the players super quick. These too are a major part of the agility drills.

I sign off here! Have fun!