You see, doing a bunch of suicides at the end of practice is not sufficient in developing a basketball players speed or agility. That type of training aids in conditioning, but is far different from speed development.

Basketball players must focus on developing the speed skills that will help them improve their game both offensively and defensively. So what are the basketball speed training components that the most successful athletes and coaches use?

Offensively, athletes must develop the first step quickness that will help them drive past their defender and get to the basket for a high percentage shot. In addition, they must be quick enough to beat their defenders around picks, have the acceleration ability to get out on a fast break and run the baseline. On defense, it is critical that athletes have the agility to keep the offensive player in front of them at all times, fight through screens, hedge picks and defend the fast break.

As you can see, by improving speed and agility, it will be easier to score points and prevent the opponent from scoring on you. Instead of spending one hundred percent of your time focusing on skills that involve the ball, you must create truly well rounded basketball players. When you apply proven basketball speed training techniques to your athletes’ basketball specific abilities, you add a dimension to your program that the majority of your competitors are still not using. But waiting to implement these techniques will have a negative affect on your program. As you know, the level of competition in the sport of basketball is becoming fiercer and more intense each and every season. Every possession means something and it doesn’t matter how well your athletes run plays or hit shots during practice. If the opposing team is so quick and fast that they shut your team down and beat them to spots all the time, then all those practice skills are a waste. Your team will lose.

Many coaches and athletes are under the impression that speed and quickness are natural abilities that can not be developed. This can’t be further from the truth. Speed and agility are skills that can developed just like a deadly jump shot or great ball handling ability. Like those abilities, they must be practiced regularly. Put simply, your basketball speed training program must be structured in a way that promotes the development of overall athletic ability, especially coordination and body awareness.

You must specifically work on speed drills, acceleration, lateral shuffling, deceleration and first step quickness. This requires the same level of structure, commitment and focus that you give the typical elements commonly associated with most basketball programs. This means, among many other things, training speed and power separate from your conditioning. Speed work is taxing to the nervous system and should not be trained on consecutive days. In addition, give athletes full recovery between runs and between drills so that they can focus on doing the drills quickly and efficiently. Conditioning type training should never be done before speed work so be sure to schedule it on days between explosive speed and agility training. By incorporating specific basketball speed training into your overall program, you will put your team to a level that you never thought your athletes were capable of.