Plyometrics for Basketball

Plyometric exercises are special kind of exercises that are practiced for great endurance, muscle coordination, speed and agility. These exercises are usually performed by sportsmen and athletes, to improve their performance in the game. Games like soccer, rugby and basketball require good body strength along with a number of sports skills like running faster, jumping higher, hitting harder and throwing farther. To improve these skills many of the trainers make their sportsmen to practice these plyometric exercises.

Plyometric exercises are exercises that involve fast jumping, hopping and bounding movements. When it comes to basketball, a player has to make quick movements on the ground and jump higher to make a basket. These activities can be performed proficiently by performing plyometric exercises regularly. Plyometrics help the players to adopt quick movements, increase body flexibility, improve alertness, etc. Given below are such various plyometric exercises that are practiced for improving the performance in basketball.

Plyometric Exercises for Basketball Players

Squat Jumps: These plyometric exercises help to increase the jump while playing basketball. First, get into the starting position of squat. Lower your body such that your thighs are parallel to the floor and forelegs perpendicular. Make sure that the angle in your knees is not less than 90 degrees. Then, once you get into this position, explode your body and jump as high as possible. Slowly land on your feet, get into the original position, hold the position for a second and repeat the exercise.

Slalom Jumps: Draw a line on the ground and stand on one side of the line. Keep your feet joined with each other and jump from one side of the line to the other without touching the line. Continue jumping back and forth, across the line and do it as fast as possible. You can record the number of jumps per minute and increase the performance gradually. Jumping and landing with the same foot on both sides of the line is a variation of this plyometric exercise.

Split Jumps: To perform this exercise, stand upright with hands positioned on the hips. Place your left foot ahead of the right foot, with a minimum 3 feet distance between them. Now, gently lower your right knee such that there is 2 inches distance between the right knee and ground. Then, jump vertically and exchange the positions of the feet in the air. Thus, after the jump, land with your right foot behind the left foot.

Low Box Depth Jump: To perform this exercise, you will require a box with at least one foot height. Stand on the box with your entire feet on the box or simply stand on your heels with your toes hanging outside. Then, step off the box and immediately jump as high as possible when you land on the floor. Do 10 more repetitions.

NOTE: You should always do some warm up exercises before performing the plyometric exercises. These exercises are effective only when explosive force is applied. While landing on any surface always try to land on the ball of your foot and avoid landing on your heels.

Plyometrics for basketball should be performed only under the guidance of a physical trainer or coach. Many of the plyometric exercises involve quick jumping, landing, rebounding, etc., thus, there are chances of getting injured. So, make sure you understand the correct steps and perform these exercises. Good Luck!