Speed & Quickness Training
Special 3-Part Series
Blast Past the Competition!
By Basketball-Drills-and-Plays.com
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Important Note:
This report is designed to be a basic guide to speed & quickness training... It contains many speed & quickness training exercises, along with a lot of other tips and tricks to help you get good results.
In the Elite Basketball Improvement System, we reveal the expanded 15-week program with the exact weight lifting, plyometric, and balance and agility
exercises to boost your speed, vertical jump, and athletic power even more! After you’re done reading this report, make sure to check out the Elite Basketball Improvement System below:
http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com/elite-player-system.html
Preface
Developing speed & quickness is SO important in basketball. It can mean the different between an average player and a great player, even if the skill levels are equal.
Allen Iverson, Lebron James, Vince Carter, and Steve Nash... All of these players are super fast and quick on their feet, which gives them a huge competitive advantage.
This speed & quickness training series broken down into 3 parts. Here's what the 3 parts will cover:
Part 1 – Introduction & Specific Drills You Can Start Doing Right Away Part 2 - The Exact Role of Weight Lifting & Flexibility in
Improving Speed & Quickness
Part 3 - Secret Tips, Tricks, & Techniques to Make You Super Fast & Quick
At the end of these 3 parts, you'll have the knowledge to
truly blow past your defender, so be patient and learn everything in this series.
Part 1 – Introduction & Specific Drills You
Can Start Doing Right Away
*Introduction*
So what's the best way to gain speed and quickness? For a second, lets forget about all the different drills and exercises, and lets focus on exactly how to get fast... Speed and quickness are a function of two things:
1) An athlete´s ability to send a message from brain to the body about how and when to react.
2) How well an athlete can coordinate upper and lower extremities while maintaining balance and speed of movement.
So, your brain is equally as important as your muscles are... The most effective drills are the ones that challenge both your brain and your muscles to the highest levels.
In "geek" language, it is neuro-muscular reflexes and the force of eccentric and concentric contractions that determine how fast & quick you are.
Don't worry about understanding this technical stuff right now. Lets get started with what you need to do to get results...
*Specific Drills to Boost Your Speed & Quickness*
Here are things that you should start doing immediately:
1) Jump Roping: Yup, a jump rope is your best friend as an athlete. It will help develop stamina, leg strength, agilty and
coordination, timing, quickness, and hand-eye coordination. You can do many exercises with a jump rope. Traditional two leg jumps, one leg jumps, and shuffles are all very effective.
As a baller, you should jump rope every single day, starting today! The key is to do a variety of different jump roping exercises, and
try to better yourself everyday.
For example, you should keep track of how many "repetitions" you can do in 10 seconds. Maybe you can 20 or 30 "hops" (repetitions) in 10 seconds. The next day, try to better yourself. Go for 22 or 33. If you can't, then do it for 12 seconds rather than 10 seconds. The above is just an example. You need to pick up a jump rope and evaluate your own athletic ability, and then try to better yourself everyday.
Here's an excellent website that'll show you many different jump roping exercises and training programs to develop speed and quickness:
http://www.jumpropeinstitute.com/a-z_on_jump_rope.htm Okay, a second drill you should do is Four Squares:
Find a place on the floor where two line intersect. These create four areas that are numbered one through four. Jump 1-2-3-4, then 4-3-2-1. Count the number of times you return to square #1 in thirty seconds. Try to better yourself every day.
The third thing you need to do is plyometrics!
Okay, you're probably wondering, isn't plyometrics for increasing vertical jumping?
Well, a nice "side" benefit of plyometric exercises is that they will definitely improve your speed, quickness, balance, & agility. Luckily, you have already received the special plyometrics report we prepared for you.
In case you haven't read it, here it is again:
http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com/Increase-Vertical-Jump.pdf Make sure to read the above report and follow the 8-week training program!
Before you do anything, make sure to stretch properly, warm-up, and drink plenty of water.
Part 2 – The Exact Role of Weight Lifting
If you're dead serious about becoming blazing fast & super quick, you have to lift weights, period.
Don't listen to some of those un-tested theories out there about how you don't need to lift weights. Those theories are just that, theories.
The proven way to develop speed & quickness includes weight lifting... Just ask any NCAA & NBA athlete...
Okay, so in this issue, we are going to lay down some advanced, litte-known techniques that will give you a huge advantage over most other ball players.
Before we start, read over the next three terms:
1) Eccentric Contraction - When your muscles contract (flex) to lower a weight. For example, when you lower the bar to your chest in a bench press.
2) Isometric Resistance - Holding a weight in one spot. For
example, pushing your hands against a wall. There is no motion, but your muscles are working.
3) Progressive Load - Means that you try to progress, or improve every single workout. Whether its increasing the weight, the repetitions, or changing the amount of time it takes to do a set. For now, just get a basic grip on the above three definitions, and we'll cover each point in more detail below...
*Eccentric Contraction - Negative Training*
Perhaps one of the best kept secrets for quickly improving your power is eccentric, or negative training.
You may have heard of "negatives", but you probably don't understand how to use this training style for maximum benefit.
Research has shown that maximal eccentric contractions (negatives) build the fast-twitch muscle fibers much better than regular,
Fast-twitch muscle fibers are those responsible for speed & explosiveness.
An eccentric contraction is when your muscles "flex" while a weight is being lowered. The muscles stretch at this point to bear the weight.
In a jumping motion, your muscles contract eccentrically when you "dip down" right before jumping.
The problem is, most athletes don't realize that their muscles can handle 30-50% more weight when training eccentrically.
So, lets say that on the leg press machine you can lift 200 lbs. Well, on a negative movement, you can probably lift 260+ lbs! A negative repetition is done very slowly. You would lower the weight as slowly as possible, preferably over a period of 20
seconds or more. One repetition of 20-30 seconds would complete a set.
In order to get the greatest benefit, you should dedicate yourself to negative training every single workout.
You will be surprised at how intense it will feel and how much power & explosiveness you'll gain after a couple of workouts. *Important Notes*
1) Keep the amount of "negative" exercises you do fairly low. You don't want to over-do it.
Recovery is just as essential as working out, so give your muscles the chance to heal and get stronger.
2) Its best to have a spotter helping you, since you'll be doing atleast 30-50% more weight than what you would normally "lift". 3) Stetch and warm-up properly.
4) When doing negatives, stick to machines rather than
free-weights. For example, do leg presses rather than squats. Other good exercises are leg curls (machine) and seated calf raises. For variety, you can do one leg presses and one leg curls.
workout, once per week. Remember, one set = one slow repetition for 20-30 seconds.
6) Better yourself every single workout! Either increase the weight or increase the time it takes you to lower the weight, or both.
*Isometric Training*
Isometric training is when you hold a weight at a certain spot for a period of time.
Typically, isometrics have been understood as pushing against a wall or other "motion-less" object as hard as one can.
However, isometric training is much more advanced than that, and it can really help you as an athlete.
Similar to "negatives", your muscles can bear a lot more weight than during an isometric hold.
Here's how to include this training style in your routine:
1) At your strongest range of motion, which is usually at the "top" of an exercise, hold the maximum amount of weight that you can. For example, in the bench press, your "strongest range of motion" would be at the top of the exercise, near the peak of your lift, when your elbows are almost straight and locked.
In a leg press, your strongest range would be at the point right before you knees are straight, about to lock.
In a leg curl, it would be the point where your heels are almost touching the back of your leg (hamstring).
2) Pick atleast 2 to 3 times more weight than what you would normally lift! So, if you do 200 lbs in the leg press, attempt atleast 400 lbs.
3) Hold this maximum weight in your strongest range of motion for 10-20 seconds.
4) Complete only one set per exercise, for a maximum of three sets per workout.
*Important Notes*
- You'll be surprised at how much weight you can handle in that strong range of motion. Keep testing until you find the perfect weight that kicks your butt for 10-20 seconds.
- You MUST have a spotter! You won't even be able to get that weight into position without a lot of help.
- Once again, do this training ONLY on machines, not free-weights. Leg presses, leg curls, and calf raises are excellent.
- The goal is to HOLD THE WEIGHT IN ONE POSITION. You should not lower or lift the weight. Simply hold it for 10-20 seconds and have
your spotter help you return to starting position.
- The leg presses & curls may not challenge you enough, even with the maximum weight the machines allow. You'll probably need to do the exercise with one leg in order to really feel it! BE CAREFUL about how much weight you can handle in a one leg exercise.
- The key is to better yourself EVERY WORKOUT. What that means is either increasing the weight, or increasing the time that you hold
the weight.
*Regular Weight Training*
You are probably familiar with this style of training. This is where you do your typical sets, lifting the weight up and down. Here's how to do it:
1) As an athlete, training to fatigue is the worst thing you can do! Your muscles need to be trained to be explosive, especially at the end of games, so you should never train them to failure. Repeat: NEVER train your muscles to failure!
Instead, do on more than 5-8 repetitions per set, for a total of 3-6 sets per exercise.
When doing these sets, rest only 15-60 seconds between sets!
In fact, you should do the last repetition MORE explosively than the 1st repetition.
What this does is train your muscles to always be explosive. By resting very little between sets, you are still training for
endurance.
2) As mentioned above, do 3-6 sets per exercise, resting only 15-60 seconds between sets.
3) Do every single repetition, in every single set, as EXPLOSIVELY as possible!
This means doing it fast & controlled. Be careful, because lifting a weight too fast can cause injuries.
*The key is to control the weight, at the same time doing it as fast as possible.*
Don't just jerk the weight, CONTROL the weight.
*Training Schedule & Exercises*
As a quick recap, so far we’ve covered the following training methods: 1) Jump-roping and agility drills
2) Plyometrics
3) Eccentric weight training 4) Isometric weight training 5) Regular weight training
The tricky part is that how do you combine all of the above and put together a great workout routine for boosting your speed and quickness?
Well, the first step is to gather all the information, then arrange the exercises in the perfect sequence from the beginning of the routine to the end, then determine the sets, reps, and weight you will be performing for each exercise, and finally calculate how much you will be improving or increasing each week.
As you can see, it can be a lot of work to put together a workout routine, and without an elite athletic trainer by your side, who knows if you’re putting it together the right way?
In Part 2 of the Elite Basketball Improvement System, we give you a fully
detailed, step-by-step 15-week workout routine that can be easily customized to your current fitness level.
Its like having an elite athletic trainer by your side, putting together an exact workout routine just for you, complete with instructions, exercises, set / rep schemes, and the weight you need to lift.
Check out the Elite Basketball Improvement System below for the complete 15-week training routine:
http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com/elite-player-system.html ---
If you really insist on putting together your own routine based on the information provided in this report, then please keep these *important notes* in mind:
1) Keep a training log and full track of how much weight, and HOW MUCH TIME you are spending to do each set.
2) Remeber to better yourself every workout. Here's how: -- Try to increase the weight
-- Try to reduce the time it takes you to do a set in a regular workout.
-- Try to increase the time you hold or lower a weight in a negative/isometric workout.
You must make progress every workout!
3) Remember to stretch properly and drink enough water.
Part 3 – Secret Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Okay, so far you've learned specific drills & weight lifting techniques to help you improve, but today, you'll discover little-known things that will help you MAXIMIZE your speed & quickness.
majority of players do not do these things. . .
Here's a quick breakdown of what the rest of this part will cover: 1) The role of stretching - Dynamic vs. Static
2) Training your lower leg muscles through stability & resistance training
*The Role of Stretching - Dynamic vs. Static*
This is the area where athletes are the laziest. They hate to stretch. They spend very little time doing it, and in most cases, they don't even do it right.
If they only knew how much proper stretching will improve their speed & quickness, they would love it as much as their love for basketball.
Some of the benefits of proper stretching are: flexibility,
improved blood circulation, muscle relaxation, & injury prevention. Unless you want to be a pile of useless muscle, you gotta stretch! Don't be lazy...
There are two types of stretches that you should do:
1) Dynamic: Stretching movements that use muscle power to move arm/leg through full ROM. Dynamic exercises stretch the muscle in a more functional way.
2) Static: Placing a muscle in its most lengthened position and holding for at least 20 seconds. The stretch is taken to the point where resistance is felt but no pain.
Dynamic stretching is BEST done before playing a sport or doing a workout.
Static stretching is best AFTER a workout or sport.
*Important*: Research has clearly shown that doing static stretches before a workout or sport can actually REDUCE power & performance temporarily. This is the most common type of stretching. Whenever you stretch to a position and hold in place, this is actually
reducing your strength and power output temporarily.
before playing. . . You want to do dynamic stretches, and here's a great website that shows and explains many different dynamic stretching exercises:
http://www.acc.co.nz/wcm001/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=4092 Click the above link to learn how to do dynamic stretches. . .
Okay, so now lets talk about static stretching, the most common kind. Static stretching is when you stretch a muscle and hold into place for some time.
Static stretches are best done AFTER a workout, and to reduce muscle stiffness. They are also very effective at improving flexibility.
Here's an excellent website that shows you many different static stretches:
http://www.acc.co.nz/wcm001/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=4103 &ssSourceNodeId=4092
*Important*: Remember, static stretching is great, but you should ONLY do it after your sport or workout, and on off-days.
**Very Important**: The key to gaining a competitive advantage is to do static stretching every single off-day (Not playing or working out). This will improve blood circulation and flexibility over time. Do dynamic stretches for atleast 10-15 minutes before your sport, and watch how well you play.
Most players won't take the time to do a 10-15 minute dynamic stretching routine, and they surely won't make time for good static stretching on off days. So, this gives you an opportunity to gain a serious advantage...
Don't underestimate or ignore this powerful principle!
*Training Your Lower Leg Muscles Through Balance / Stability Training* One of the most ignored, under-developed muscle group in athletes
is the lower leg muscle group. Around 30% of your power is generated in these muscles, so ignoring them means you are seriously missing out on some un-tapped athletic potential.
The lower leg muscles are the calves & shin muscles. The achilles & ankles are tendons, but they are included in this group. Even your
toes and arches of your feet play a role in athletic power.
Training the achilles tendon, shins, & ankles will give you some serious explosiveness, sharp cutting angles, and mad hops!
The absolute best way to train these under-developed muscles, tendons, and ligaments is through balance and stability training...
Here are some sample balance / stability exercises that you can perform: 1) Frontal Thrust:
Begin with your planted foot turned outside to a 45 degree angle with your knee slightly bent. Project your other leg forward, locking your knee by pushing with your heel and pulling your toes back towards your shin. Sit back as much as possible without leaning. Flex your raised quad and planted glute in order to relax the hamstring of the raised leg. Exhale and grip the ground with your toes.
2) Lateral Thrust:
From the Front Thrust turn with your whole leg, leading with your pinky toe so that your raised leg rotates outward resting with your foot turned outward 45 degrees. Sit down without leaning and continue to rotate your leg outwards. Exhale and grip.
3) Frontal Thrust:
Bend your knee and slowly swing your leg under you (bent knee) and begin again with your Front Thrust. Repeat.
In Part 2 of the Elite Basketball Improvement System, we show you basic to advanced level balance / stability training routine, complete with illustrated exercises and step-by-step instructions.
This balance/stability routine, when combined with our plyometrics, weight training, and agility/speed routines, gives you an unfair advantage to develop more explosive athletic power than you ever imagined.
We hope this introductory report has given you a good idea of what you’ll find inside Part 2 of the Elite Basketball Improvement System...
Get that lightning quick first-step and strong drive you need to blow past your defender and
