In many team sports, but especially in basketball, the ability to move quickly is critical. Both creating separation from an opponent while on offense and trying to minimize separation from an opponent on defense can help improve player and team success. Both require the ability to move one’s body quickly, or at least quicker than one's opponents, to be most successful. The best way to become quicker is to improve strength and power in basketball-specific movement patterns. Below, we explain the ingredients of quickness, how to improve your quickness, and give you some specific drills to get you started working on your basketball quickness.
What are the 3 Steps to Quickness?
At first glance, most think that quickness is just about moving fast, but it is not that simple. There are three critical steps to being quick. The most obvious step, yet the last to happen, is creating forces to cover distance quickly. The other two, which are less obvious and precede the act of movement, are visual processing and decision making.
Step 1: What is Visual Processing?
Visual processing is when your brain takes in what your eyes see and turns it into meaning. This could include recognizing a closeout, seeing the help defense approaching, or seeing space on the court to move toward. This is improved by focusing on the right cues, such as watching the hips of the athlete you are guarding, rather than the ball, or picking up on information in your peripheral vision. In other words, this is the player’s ability to see the game.
For example, when an experienced athlete recognizes something early, this could give them a substantial advantage, especially against a less experienced or more novice competitor. This could mean an experienced athlete already being in the right spot before an inexperienced athlete starts to move to where they need to be, or in some situations, even recognizes they need to move at all. This aspect of quickness, although not physical, is trainable and something a player can develop. By studying the game, watching film, knowing scouting reports, and with a lot of practice in appropriate situations, one can build and develop this aspect of their game so it should not be completely ignored.
Step 2: What is Decision Making?
Deciding or decision making refers to deciding what to do about the information gathered within the first step. In relation to the previous examples, this could include evading the defender or quickly changing your position. These first two steps (visual processing and decision making) are a big reason why decision-making drills, which help a player improve their ability to read, decide, and move, are so important to improving an athlete’s game.
Step 3: What is Quickness?
Moving refers to covering a certain distance. Quickness is covering a specific distance in a short amount of time. Moving quicker is covering the same distance in less time or more distance in the same amount of time.
How to improve Quickness: Resisted Sprints, Assisted Stops, and Resisted Change of Directions
When thinking of drills to improve quickness, many will think of ladder drills and cone drills. It makes sense, right? Fast feet mean you will move fast, rehearsed patterns mean you will move faster, and athletes have been doing both for ages. Sure, both ladder drills and cone drills have a place in developing quickness and speed, but when it comes down to it, one of the easiest ways to improve quickness is by improving your body’s ability to produce force quickly and in the right direction.
To keep it simple, one can focus on using these three specific types of drills:
- Resisted Forward Acceleration
- Assisted Forward Deceleration
- Assisted Lateral Deceleration to Resisted Lateral Acceleration
Please refer to both the instructions below and the video links provided to be sure you are performing these drills correctly.
Drill #1: Resisted Forward Acceleration
The Resisted Forward Acceleration is a great drill for improving your first step quickness. The added resistance from the band in a horizontal direction helps improve your ability to apply force in a more optimal direction and thus improve your linear quickness.
How to Perform the Resisted Forward Acceleration
- With the resistance band around your hips, the anchor point behind you, and facing away from the anchor point walk forward to where you feel a little bit of resistance from the band. Then get into a staggered stance position with your left foot forward and your right leg back.
- Bend your hips, knees, and ankles to lower your body into a ready position where you feel balanced with about 60% of your body weight on the front leg and 40% on the back leg. Simultaneously, move your left arm back and your right arm forward to get to a ready position to accelerate.
- Once you are in a ready position and stable, quickly accelerate forward for either one, two, or three steps (depending on the resistance and length of the band you are using). Make sure your band is strong enough that it will not snap and that you only go as far as it will tolerate. To be safe you can focus on just one step.
- After you have accelerated forward, stop and find balance, and then reverse walk back toward the anchor point and repeat the same drill with the right leg forward.
How many repetitions should you perform?
Perform 5 repetitions on each leg for 3 total sets to get started. Make sure that each repetition is improved with game speed intent to get the best results.
How often should this drill be done to improve basketball quickness?
Incorporate this drill 2-3 times per week, early in your training session, so you are still fresh and can focus on moving quickly.
Drill #2: Assisted Forward Deceleration
The Assisted Forward Acceleration is a great drill for improving your ability to stop quickly. The added resistance from the band in a horizontal direction helps improve your ability to apply a more efficient force and improve your braking ability.
How to Perform the Assisted Forward Deceleration
- With the resistance band around your hip and the anchor point in front of you, walk backward to where you feel enough resistance from the band.
- Standing tall, let the band assist you in moving forward for either one, two, or three steps (depending on the resistance and length of the band you are using), and then using the same amount of steps (or less to make the drill more intense) to stop yourself in a balanced position with your left leg in front of your right.
- After you have come to a complete stop and found your balance, reverse walk away from the anchor point and repeat the process, except now bring yourself to a stop with your right leg in front of your left leg. Make sure your band is strong enough that it will not snap and that you only go as far as it will tolerate. To be safe, you can focus on just one step.
How many repetitions should you perform?
Perform 5 repetitions on each leg for 3 total sets to get started. Make sure that each repetition is improved with game speed intent to get the best results.
How often should this drill be done to improve basketball quickness?
Incorporate this drill 2-3 times per week, early in your training session, so you are still fresh and can focus on moving quickly.
Drill #3: Assisted Lateral Deceleration to Resisted Lateral Acceleration
The Assisted Lateral Deceleration to Resisted Lateral Acceleration is a great drill for improving your lateral quickness. The added resistance from the band in a horizontal direction helps improve your ability to both decelerate and accelerate in a lateral direction.
How to Perform the Assisted Lateral Deceleration to Resisted Acceleration
- With the resistance band around your hip and the anchor point to your left, move a few steps to your right to where you feel enough resistance from the band.
- In an athletic position with your hips, knees, and ankles bent, and your shoulders over your toes, let the band assist you in moving to your left for either one, two, or three steps (depending on the resistance and length of the band you are using), and then using the same amount of steps (or less to make the drill more intense) to stop yourself in the same balanced athletic position that you started.
- After you have come to a complete stop and found your balance, quickly accelerate against the resistance of the band, away from the anchor point, back to where you started the drill.
- Once you have returned to the start position, turn around so that the anchor point is to your left and repeat the drill on your other side. Make sure your band is strong enough that it will not snap and that you only go as far as it will tolerate. To be safe, focus on just one step to get started.
How many repetitions should you perform?
Perform 5 repetitions on each leg for 3 total sets to get started. Make sure that each repetition is improved with game speed intent to get the best results.
How often should this drill be done to improve basketball quickness?
Incorporate this drill 2-3 times per week, early in your training session, so you are still fresh and can focus on moving quickly.
How Strength Training Improves Quickness
Newton’s 2nd law of motion states that the acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force acting on the object and inversely proportional to its mass or “F = ma”. More simply, how much an object accelerates is directly related to how much force is applied to it. In the case of the human body the force is applied from within and in order for an athlete to decelerate, accelerate or change direction quicker that athlete needs to produce more force. The ability to produce force relies on the brain and muscles of the body, or what is called the neuromuscular system.
This is one reason why when athletes who have little or no weight training experience begin a basic strength training routine and improve their strength, they also usually experience improvements in quickness. This is due to the neuromuscular system improving its force production capability. However, most of these improvements only occur for a short period of time while the athlete goes from a low level of strength to a moderate level of strength. There is a point of diminishing return, where lifting heavier weights and becoming stronger does not always improve quickness, and this varies depending on the athlete. At this point, what really matters is the ability to produce force more rapidly or in a shorter period of time, which leads us to our next topic: Rate of force development
Why Rate of Force Development is Critical to Becoming Quicker
Now that we understand why improving strength matters, let’s talk about why the time frame that force is produced in is important. In team sports like basketball, there is rarely a situation that does not have a time constraint, and I am not just talking about a shot clock. Think about more granular movements such as a crossover, drive to the basket, or lateral slide. An athlete who is stronger and can produce more force usually has an advantage, except for when they are up against an athlete that can produce the same amount of force faster or even a little less force faster. This is because time matters and the rate of force development (RFD) directly affects quickness. In fact, the rate of force development is so critical to quickness that as long as an athlete improves their RFD they are likely to also continue improving their quickness. The last aspect of quickness that we will discuss here is the direction of applied forces or force vectors.
Why Applying Forces in the Right Direction Improves Quickness
If two athletes produce the same amount of force, but one of them is producing it in a more efficient direction, that athlete would have an advantage. For example, if I asked you to jump as far as you could and then as high as you can, you would reposition your body to produce force in a way that would optimize the goal of each individual task. When trying to jump forward, you would lean forward as you push back and down on the ground to optimize how far forward you jump. However, when trying to jump up, you would avoid leaning forward and push directly down into the ground to optimize how high you jumped. Moving within sport follows the same premise: an athlete who produces the same, more, or even sometimes a little less force in the right direction will have an advantage, especially if they produce the force more rapidly.
Why Horizontal Plane Resisted Movements Help Improve Quickness
Since most movements in basketball are on a horizontal plane (forward, backward, left, and right) as opposed to a vertical plane (up and down), the more focus on producing forces in these directions, the better. Using resistance bands that are attached in front of you, behind you, and to your left and right allows you to improve forces in those directions and improve the technique and skill of very specific basketball movement patterns. There are many benefits to using resistance bands, or what is called accommodating resistance, such that it allows you to modify the load you are training with by simply moving closer to or further away from the anchor point. Most practically, they are easy to bring with you, unlike weights. Training with bands does not replace weight training, but they are a great training tool to use in your training, and every basketball player should consider using them.
Other Training Considerations to Enhance Your Quickness
When it comes to training, the details matter. Now that you have the basics of how to perform each of the exercises above correctly here are a few extra considerations for your training. Each of these considerations has the ability to further improve your quickness so be sure you read each and apply them to your training whenever possible.
Why Body Composition Matters
This post is not focused on body weight and body composition, but it is important to point out that an athlete’s body composition does affect their ability to move quickly. When they do not have enough muscle, this will limit their strength, and they may not be able to produce much force, which will prevent them from moving quickly. Conversely, when an athlete weighs too much, the force they produce may not be enough to move them quickly.
Why You Should Rehearse and Refine these Simple Movements
It is easy to think that these drills need to be complicated, but they really do not. In fact, some might say that the most successful athletes that are quick don’t do complicated things well, they do simple things well.
For example, Stephen Curry is usually not the fastest player on the court, but his ability to do very simple things like accelerate, decelerate, and change direction quickly, while staying under control and balanced, helps him to create space and be effective. Sure, many things go into this. Most notably, he is one of the best shooters ever. But considering the gravity that he has on offense, if it weren’t for his vision, decision-making, and quickness, he would not be able to be effective. As it specifically relates to quickness, one of the things that Steph excels at is his movement efficiency. He has trained very specific patterns again and again and again. This is where rehearsing and refining simple movements can greatly improve one’s quickness.
Why Getting into an Athletic Position is so Important to Quickness
It is critical to find the right starting position and to do it as quickly as possible. This reinforces the ability to get into ready positions quickly within sport. If you get into athletic positions slowly in training, you are more likely to get into athletic positions slowly in competition. An athletic position means that your joints are loaded or bent. An easier way to think of this is that the hip, knees, and ankles are bent, and you are lowered into a position where you feel balanced, strong and ready to produce force and move quickly as soon as necessary. A poor example of this would be standing too tall and needing to drop down into a loaded athletic position before moving. Another poor example of this is feeling like you need to rock backward to load your leg before you accelerate forward. This is even more important to those athletes who are not gifted with natural speed and quickness. Every tenth of a second matters, so be sure to focus on getting into athletic positions consistently and quickly so you don’t waste a tenth of a second doing so.
Why Training Intensity and Intent Matters
It is important to remember that intent and quality of execution matters, especially when it comes to improving quickness. If you are moving slowly in training, you cannot expect to magically become quicker. This is why it is crucial that there is full intent within quickness drills, and you are trying to go as fast as you can. Equally, this means that you must perform each of these drills in a recovered state. This means allowing for enough rest between repetitions so that the speed of execution does not drop off, and scheduling your quickness sessions at a time of day or on a day of the week when you are not usually tired.
Conclusion: On Your Way to Quickness
Now that you understand how visual processing, decision making, and movement all go into basketball quickness, you are better equipped to improve your game. Most notably, you have a deeper understanding of why improving force, improving force more rapidly, and improving the direction of forces can each enhance quickness. Additionally, you have a few new drills to incorporate into your training regimen. Even if it is just for a few minutes, 2-3 times per week, before your court sessions, these drills and knowledge are guaranteed to enhance your game if you apply them and their principles to your training consistently.
.svg)