Agility ladder drills
These are often associated with other sports (such as soccer or
football), but every
basketball player should use an agility ladder to work on their
foot speed and agility.
There are
various drills you can do with an agility ladder, but here are a
few basics to get started:
- One foot hop (go through each box hopping on one foot, then do
again with the other)
- Two foot hop (go through each box using both feet)
- High knees (go through the boxes brining your knees up high)
- Two feet in each box (using a running motion, step into a box
with your right foot, then
your left, then into the next box with your right, then your left and
continue this pattern)
- One foot in each box (same as above, but this time, only one
foot will land in each box)
- Sideways one foot in each box (sliding to your side, you'll
put one foot in each box)
- Sideways two feet in each box (same as above, but both feet
will hit the ground in each
box)
Jump
rope drills
Old school? No doubt about it. But also very effective.
Jumping
rope is a great way to get warmed up for a workout, but it's
also a great way to work on your foot speed.
Here are a few drills:
- Speed jumps (jump fast, and we mean as fast as you can)
- One leg (alternating between your right and left foot...for
example, jump 4 or 5 times on
your left foot, then move to 4 or 5 jumps on your right)
- Running jumps (jump rope while moving from one end of the
floor to the other...it's more a
fast walk than a run, but you get the idea)
Cone
drills
Cone drills are great at making you faster. Here are a few good
drills I use with my clients:
- Sliding drills (place 2 cones 6-8 feet apart and defensive
slide from one to the other...then
move them 10-12 feet apart and do the same. They key is to slide
fast...very fast.)
- The T-Cone drill (place 3 cones in a straight line about 3 or
4 feet apart, then place 2
other cones about 10 feet apart at the top of the "T". Now, start off
running back and forth
between the 3 cones and out to one of the cones at the top, then
back-pedal to the
starting spot. Do the same thing again, this time out to the other cone
at the top, and
back-pedaling to the start). Go FAST.
These are
just some of the drills you can do as part of your foot speed
and agility training. |