Improving Your Footspeed

Speed kills.  This statement is true in many ways.  It's true positive ways and negative ways.  It's true that going to fast on the expressway can get you killed.  It's also true that playing fast in sports can be of great benefit to you as a ball player.  I am definitely not writing this post encouraging people to speed when they drive but what I do want to do is take some time to explain how improving your quickness with and without the ball can help your basketball game immensely.  

You might be asking is it possible to improve your quickness on the basketball floor?  The answer to that question is most definitely yes.  There are 5 ways which you can increase your quickness and help you become both tougher to guard on offense and tougher to beat on defense.

1. Physical Coordination - Training your body to move quicker is where it all starts.  With this portion of quickness training it is very important that you push yourself beyond the comfort zone.  In other words with each skill you practice make sure you increase the intensity for each set you do.  For example if you are jumping rope, set a goal that you will do 5 sets of 50.  Your first goal may be to make sure you can do 50 reps all at once.  Once that is done, you may start telling a partner to time you.  Your goal is to best your time everytime you jump rope.  Once you perfect single jumps off both legs you may want to up the intensity by increasing the number of sets or by trying alternating single leg jumps or doubles.  Your goal is to keep pushing to get better.  I have listed a groups of good exercises that you can do to increase your physical coordination here.
2. Skills Ability - You are never too good to improve your basketball skill level.  The pros are always practicing their skills.  Whether it is shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, finishing at the rim, or defending, the name of the game is to make the drills as game like as possible.  For example shooting straight right and left handed layups are great when you are first learning how to shoot but they are not very productive after that.  Make layups challenging.  Shoot them from odd angles.  Shoot them off the wrong foot.  Shoot them off a combo dribble.  Shoot them from distance using as few dribbles as possible to get to the basket.  Shoot them against friends that will challenge them. Do anything you can to make them difficult.  The harder you make the skill the quicker you will become.  Another example is dribbling.  I see a lot of kids who are content once they learn how to dribble with both hands.  They get ecstatic when they can go between the legs or behind the back.  The problem is the speed with which they are dribbling.  A between the leg dribble may be great when you are by yourself in the back yard but is useless when you play against a good defender who can take advantage of the lack of speed you are bouncing the ball with.  I always tell my players in practice, "if you are not screwing up in the dribbling lines then you are not going fast enough."  Push yourself in practice so things get easier during games.
3. Competitive Scrimmages - Look for games against players who are better than you.  You have to be careful in picking these games.  If the level of competition is too high then you may get ignored on the floor which won't help you.  In general find games and assert yourself.  Use these games to practice your skills against live competition in an environment which usually promotes creativity.  It's in these games that you can practice the step back that you have been practicing or the no look pass which you have seen your favorite player make on TV.  Scrimmages are great ways to improve your game especially in the off season and these will help you improve your quickness by allowing you to hone your skills.
4. Intelligence - Watch film, videos, and games.  Ask your coach questions.  The more you learn about the game the more the game will slow down for you.  Learn how to read situations.  Learn how to read and identify tendencies of players.  Learn how to play your teams offenses and defenses and learn how to play all 5 positions on the floor.  All of this will help you gain the extra 1/2 step that you may need to make a difference.  The more you study the game the better off you will be.
5. Confidence - By doing all of the above over and over again you are taking the steps necessary to maximize your potential as a basketball player.  There is nothing better than stepping on the court and knowing that there is very little that the opposition can do that you have not been exposed to.  Confidence comes with preparation.  If you do the work over and over again your confidence will soar and along with it so will your quickness.  When you have max confidence in your abilities you are no longer thinking out there, you are reacting.  This difference in approach makes the player much quicker because a thinking player spends that extra second thinking that the reactive player does not.  Strive to be reactive.  Practice hard and with speed and watch the game slow down for you.

There are 5 ways you can help yourself improve your quickness.  The quicker you are the tougher a player you are.  Strive to be as quick as possible.