Basketball Agility Drills

The move for the basket and the actual scoring might take place in a matter of, but for those few seconds of fame, these players indulge in hours of practice. From specific game-targeted practice sessions to overall fitness and stamina drills, players put in a lot of hard work. One of the aspects of these practice sessions are agility drills.

Drill #1: Alternate feet, the name of this drill aptly describes the routine. It involves jumping on alternate feet. What the player does in this drill is that, he or she jumps as quickly as he or she can for a minute. The catch is to jump twice on the right foot, and then twice on the left foot. 2 sets have to be done with a 30-second break in between.

Drill #2: On the field, keep 4 markers in a straight line around 3 yards apart. Then, between each set of markers, place one more marker 3 yards to the left. A player will sprint to marker A, and follow it up with a side step, or in fact a shuffle to marker B with the left leg in the lead.

Now he will side shuffle to another marker leading with the right leg. It is done again till the finish. After the player is done with a set, repeating the sets 6 - 8 times is recommended.

Drill #3: Besides on the court, exercises in the gym, with or without equipment can make players agile too. So, one of the drills which can be done that way is the toe touch. You will have to tape 2 parallel lines on the floor, which will be around a feet apart.

Then keep your right foot outside the right line, and your left outside the left line. Now, jump in the air and land with your feet together inside the line. Follow it up by quickly jumping outside the lines. Along with the jumping, keep your hands up all the time.

Drill #4: Using a jumping rope, even though it may seem primitive and vintage, can be a fantastic drill. You can do lot of variations with the jumping rope. Basically, it helps get the toes moving and in action, and serves the purpose of warm up as well. Speed jumps and running jumps are a couple of exercises you can do with a jumping rope.

Drill #5: For a sprinting drill, mark out a distance of 100 meters. Start slowly and then accelerate. Gain top speed at around 60 meters, and then sprint full blast for the last 40 meters.