I think the NBA has the greatest all around athletes. They have incredible speed and quickness, explosive jumping ability, and hand-eye coordination that is remarkable. A couple of years ago we had the chance to work with former Los Angeles Laker, Devin Green, a Beechcroft graduate from right here in Columbus, Ohio. He had been signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves for their summer league team in Las Vegas and he contracted with us to get his speed and overall strength ready for the league.

If Devin had come to us this year, he wouldn’t have been able to play out in Vegas because of the NBA lockout. Consequently, he would have been in limbo just like other undrafted free agents are this year. But, if there wasn’t a lockout, and he decided to come work with us for his speed training and a basketball strength program, then I think this is what we would have done.

First and foremost would have been running mechanics. Even though Devin had played at the top level, we don’t want to assume anything. So making sure his running mechanics were where they needed to be would be top priority. You have to be very efficient with all your movements.

The next thing would be to start working on improving his leg power, which would help him jump higher and run faster up and down the court. This would also help with his lateral quickness on the court as well. To accomplish this, we would start with a lot of plyometrics, such as standing broad jumps and then some box jumps. Eventually, we would transition to single leg jumps to work each leg equally. Also, you do a lot of jumping and cutting off of single legs so that explosiveness needs to be there.

I will be posting a video here shortly of a plyometric drill that Dirk Nowitski (this year’s NBA Finals MVP) uses in his workouts. It is a pretty advanced drill, but if you have the maturity, it can be very effective for basketball. I will keep you posted when this goes up.

Resistance runs would come in handy to help develop his acceleration and power. I would probably use some sprint cords attached to him for some 20 yard runs, maybe 30 yards. The court is only 90 feet (30 yards) so I don’t think we would need to go much further than that. This resistance running would cover everything from his first step to sprinting down the court in transition.

Finally, after we have effectively hit his top end speed, we would work on short quick movements for agility. Short cone drills and agility ladder drills would be used for the quick feet developmental pattern. This will cover everything from man-to-man defense, to being quick in traffic.

Basketball players in my opinion are probably the best athletes on the planet and it is not enough to be able to shoot the lights out in the gym. You have to be athletic. Consequently, your quickness and vertical leap needs to constantly be worked on to stay sharp and at the top of your game. That is why coaches like me are in existence. To get you to the next level and keep you there.