Here is a quick video showing you a combination of strength, stability and agility exercises used with basketball players to not only improve performance but help to prevent many of the serious injuries seen in this sport with ankles and knees.
Having played as both a point guard and a shooting guard at a high level for over 20 years I know all about the demands of the game and how important strength training is for providing the explosive power needed to change direction, sprint but also maintain balance on drives in the lane or coming off screens.
I also know how critical it is to use exercises to strengthen the ankles and knees as I suffered with many severe sprains and also an ACL tear.
The exercises shown in this video are not the only ones we use as there is a ton of other great exercises we use, this just gives you an idea of how to incorporate exercises that have an emphasis on improved movement instead of just bigger muscles.
Make sure you read our article Strength Training For Basketball for even more ideas.
As with any sport practice of the fundamental skills like shooting, dribbling, and rebounding etc is essential but the little things that separates average players from great players will come down to the athletic movement. Being able to move faster, and with more efficiency than others is the missing link to taking your game to a new level. And this can only be achieved through a well designed strength training program. Unfortunately most of the strength programs you see being used today are still using outdated body building concepts that will ruin athletic performance, not enhance it. Traditional strength training methods using body building principles will sacrifice your efficiency, power and velocity of movement for muscle mass producing the “muscle bound” body rather than an athletic one. Years ago you may have seen these players playing and they would have been power forwards or centers who just rebounded and posted up. In today’s modern game of high pace “small ball” with the likes of Steph Curry exposing these players in pick and rolls is where these players are vulnerable and eventually become a liability to their team. One things is for sure, what you see happen in the Pros will filter down to domestic competitions as teams look for better ways to win. You can no longer afford to rely on just being big.
Athletes need size and strength that will increase power and performance not just to look good with your top off.
Excess muscle size without strength will add excess body mass and potentially make the athlete slower and less mobile. Too much time spent training maximal strength will take away from sport specific energy system conditioning and could have a negative effect on skill acquisition and movement pattern development.
In basketball knee injuries are very common as cutting and single leg landing is a massive part of the game as seen in the pictures above. The incidence of injury in young female basketball players is particularly concerning, especially when you know these career ending injuries can be easily avoided. There is many reasons why females report much higher cases of ACL tears – statistics show females have an 8 times higher rate of ACL injury versus males! (reference from the book Understanding & Preventing Non Contact ACL Injuries by American Orthopedic Society For Sports Medicine).
Some of the reasons include:
Less overall muscle mass
Wider “Q” angle placing the knee at increased danger of valgus collapse
Pivot with less knee and hip flexion
Increased internal rotation at the hip
Increased external rotation at the tibia
Less knee joint stiffness
Higher quadricep to hamstring ratio
The use of sleeves and knee braces is about as far as many take their preventative measures and unfortunately this WILL NOT prevent an injury.
Great articles to read with more detail on ACL injuries, ankle injuries and knee sleeves are below
ACL Injuries
Knee Sleeves
Ankles & Feet
I hope you enjoy this video
