Acceleration/Deceleration in Basketball...

Show of hands if you want to drive a lamborghini?



What if it had no brakes?

Those of us who value our lives would likely pass on the brakeless lambo, no matter how tempting. So what if your body was the lambo and you had no breaks? Your body's ability to decelerate or slow down and control motion IS your brakes. One could argue that the ability to accelerate, or produce force (create motion) is critical for sports performance while the ability to decelerate, or slow down (control) movement is equally critical for preventing injuries and dysfunction. That's not to say that either the ability to create or control motion does not carry over into the realm of the other. For instance; you have to be able to slow down a motion before you can create an opposing motion, equally as important for performance. The fact of the matter is this: When you combine the ability to do both effectively and efficiently, you are operating like a well oiled lamborghini.

So where do we accelerate or create motion in basketball? Let's take a look at a play by one of the most beastly physical specimens in the NBA right now; Blake "I dunk everything in sight" Griffin.



At about the 3 second mark Blake gathers the ball after it has been tipped to him and transitions into a running dribble, he is ACCELERATING. Not Derrick Rose fast, but he is accelerating nonetheless and doing a good job of keeping his big body in between the ball and the defender.

At the 4-5 second mark Blake plants his left foot. There is a whole series of things happening at this point. His left foot is likely going through a very short pronation phase, where his foot collapses, causing internal rotation of his tibia, and in turn internal rotation of his hip. All you need to know is that these actions are lengthening certain muscles which in turn recognize the need to SLOW DOWN and STOP these movements. Why do they need to stop? These lengthened muscles are now LOADED. They are storing elastic energy and ready to UNLOAD and propel Blake in an opposing motion. To create the motion he needs the opposite to happen, external rotation of hip and tibia, and supination at his foot creating a rigid propulsive flipper to push off of. This sends him spinning to his left where he plants again, recreating that loading and unloading cycle.

At the 6 second mark he reaches back with his right hand, lengthening or LOADING the front of his body. It's like pulling back on an elastic right before you flick it at someone. Again all of those muscles now lengthened need to put on the brakes and slow down that motion before snapping back, by shortening and allowing him to hammer dunk the ball aggressively, pumping up the crowd, making a statement and successfully evading the weak block attempt by the defender.

Acceleration and deceleration in basketball doesn't soley refer to the act of increasing speed in a sprint and then slowing down. Those are absolutely part of the equation and definitely trainable, but we must think beyond those definitions to examine how else we can train the body to be able to DECELERATE or LOAD and ACCELERATE or UNLOAD (EXPLODE) in basketball specific instances.

Landing mechanics for instance are a perfect example of the body's ability to decelerate motion. What happens when you jump in the air and land in a position where your body cannot properly decelerate the forces encountered? Watch below. Be forewarned this video is graphic!



Keep on the lookout for the NEXT BLOG POST with videos showing how we can train the body's ability to accelerate and decelerate.

Josh

Questions/Comments?

josh@torontoathlete.com

416.894.3365

www.facebook.com/ATPbasketball

www.torontoathlete.com

ATP Sport Conditioning Centres located in Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road Unit #15

Breaking Down the Basketball Warm-Up...

The warm-up, regardless of sport is a critical aspect of preparing for physical activity and competition. Basketball is no exception - all basketball athletes should be performing an appropriate dynamic warm-up prior to a game, practice or shoot around. Below is my template for structuring a team warm-up prior to a game or practice. Keep in mind that time and space will be different for everyone. A high school team may only have 5-10 minutes before a game to warm-up. In a case like that you've got to prioritize what is most important for your specific team/players and perhaps "Pick Your Top 5" drills to address those needs. You need to know where you're getting the most bang for your buck. In situations where I've wanted to get more done and give the athletes more court time pre-game I would utilize a hallway or lobby for warm-up. It pays to be creative and resourceful. A university team on the other hand might have significantly more time and can expand their warm-up. The goals of a pre-game warm-up will also differ from the those of a pre-practice warm-up. Pre-practice usually means more available time to take care of corrective exercises or other preventative measures. You can almost look at it as its own mini training session. Pre-game on the other hand is all about preparation to physically and mentally exert oneself at their highest level. The following template is just that - a template (in order), not a hard and fast way to do things. The sample exercises or drills given do not cover every possible option but represent some of the basics.

Self Massage: The goal here is to improve tissue quality and "loosen you up". There is some discussion about the research that suggests this effect may not last or is not effective as originally thought. The way I see it is this - I've never met anyone who didn't FEEL better after rolling out and wouldn't want to do it before any kind of physical activity. Bottom line: if it works for you, do it.

3D Flexibility/Mobility including Foot/Ankle/Big Toe: Your feet are what connects you to (and propels you off of) the ground - their importance must be recognized! Without getting too specific here you require a certain amount of motion in your feet and ankles in various joints. This motion creates a chain reaction up your body that allows you to load your muscles in 3 Dimensions, and then harness all of that stored energy and use it to explode through a stable foot. Here you are also going to address any tightness with static stretches of your main muscle groups, quads, hamstrings, calves, hips.

Dynamic Flexibility/Mobility: Spider Crawls, multi-planar traveling lunges, single leg deadlifts. Here we add a movement component to our stretches and are addressing specific flexibility that we'll need to properly execute the movements that we'll be doing during games.

Locomotor Skills/CNS Excitation: Skipping, Shuffling, Backpedal, Sprinting, Hopping, Bounding, Jumping, Leaping, Quick Feet. Basketball athletes use all kinds of strategies and approaches to get from point A to point B. Whether it's drop stepping in the post or chasing after a loose ball, you should feel comfortable and confident in using multiple varieties of footwork and movements patterns. Your Central Nervous System (CNS) usually needs a bit of a wake up call in order to get your body primed to run fast, cut hard, and jump high and repeatedly. We accomplish this through our hopping, jumping, skipping, leaping and quick feet movements.

Basketball Specific: Pattern Runs, Close-Outs, Defensive Drills, Passing, Dribbling. Following a pattern of general to specific, your warm-up should finish with things that look and feel the most like playing basketball. It can be breaking down certain movements on the offensive or defensive end such as multiple closeouts to different spots on the court with shuffles home each time. Or as seen in the video, several things happen in the basketball specific drill. First the athlete makes a C-cut to the inbounder who may or may not pass them the ball. If they receive the ball they must dribble full speed to the top of the opposite 3 pt line, make a move and finish strong. If they don't receive a pass they must run a wide lane and cut hard to the basket at the top of the opposite 3 pt line where they do receive a pass and again finish strong.

One aspect of the warm-up that is often overlooked is the mental aspect. If you're about to get after it in a practice or game right after your warm-up it is absolutely essential that you use your warm-up time to prepare mentally.

COMMUNICATE!

I have seen on more than one occasion a team go through a quiet/passive warm-up and come out of the gate with no fire. How you approach your warm-up will carry over into how you approach the game or practice. Lack of focus and intensity in warm-up=same in game.

• Support each other. Encourage your teammates, hold each other accountable, if you see a teammate coasting through warm-up let them know.
• Use names. Use your teammates names when addressing them or passing them the ball.
• Remind each other WHEN and HOW you need to communicate in-game to be successful.

FOCUS!

• Do every warm-up drill to the best of your ability, with the proper intensity.
• Take time to review the game plan. If you can't remember a play, make a mental note to ask someone before the game starts.
• Get your game face on. However you prepare yourself to win, now is the time to start or take it to the next level. Some athletes prefer to stay relaxed until the on-court basketball warm-up before they get hyped and that is perfectly fine.

The importance of a proper warm-up is evident, do one and dominate or don't and get left behind.

Josh

Questions/Comments?

josh@torontoathlete.com

416.894.3365

www.facebook.com/ATPbasketball

www.torontoathlete.com

ATP Sport Conditioning Centres located in Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road Unit #15

2 Simple Things to Prepare You Pre-Practice/Game...

Check out the video below for 2 simple techniques to help prepare you physically for a practice, game or workout.

Using a basketball to "roll out" or perform self massage is easy and will loosen you up. Make sure you hit the major muscle groups you're going to be using on the court: hips/thighs/groin/back (all seen in the video). Go ahead and roll out your calves and hamstrings too, or anything that is feeling tight!

The 3D ankle mobilizations will help ensure you have the required mobility in your feet/ankles to be able to perform at your best. Keep the toes of your stance foot pointed straight ahead and your heel down, use the swing leg to create momentum!

You'd be surprised at what happens within your feet/ankles during a game of basketball, case in point check out the left ankle of the Ryerson Rams Jahmal Jones!

Photo Credit to www.ryersonrams.ca

Come check us out at ATP to see how we can help you build your best basketball body!

Josh

jdford@gmail.com

416.894.3365

www.facebook.com/ATPbasketball

www.torontoathlete.com

ATP Sport Conditioning Centres located in Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road Unit #15

Lunch with Miami Heat Strength Coach Bill Foran...

Bill Foran, Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Miami Heat, currently in his 23rd year with the club is one of the longest tenured Strength Coaches in professional sports. He has an NBA Championship under his belt (2006) and is also the man behind the book "High Performance Sports Conditioning."

The Heat are in town to play the Toronto Raptors and Bill was kind enough to sit down with me for lunch and share some of his knowledge and experience. Bill is a class act, and regardless of his extensive background was interested in learning more about Todd Wright's methods at the University of Texas, so he could better serve one of the Heat's 2010 Draft Picks, former Longhorn Dexter Pittman. It just goes to show you, the best are always trying to get better and that's why they stay on top! He described Canadian, and Eastern Commerce alumni Jamaal Magloire as one of his hardest workers, shared his thoughts on various training methodologies for basketball athletes and commented that the current crop of Heat players is one of his favorites, as it is a veteran heavy squad and everyone is willing to put in the extra work necessary to be the best and most importantly, to win.

When asked what separates the Superstars from the rest of the league:

"The superstars have God-given talent. I've seen superstars willing to work to become even better, and I've seen guys that are great players and think that's enough. If you can get those guys (who are talented and think that will carry them) to buy into the off-court training and the extra on-court work it takes them up to another level. The key thing is the true superstars get it, in the weight room, on the court, doing their drill work and that's why they're superstars."

On what is important for the athletic development of young basketball athletes:

"If young athletes develop a proper strength base they are going to have more power, in turn making them quicker and helping them jump higher. Their on-court basketball specific drills are important, you've got to be able to shoot and do all of that, but when they get stronger and more powerful, their quickness, speed and vertical jump go way up. Kids want to get into the weight room and do the beach workout, chest and arms but the real key along with core strength is hip and leg strength. Everything they do from running to jumping to moving comes from the legs and hips and the strength and power allows you to do unbelievable quick, fast, and explosive movements."

There you have it folks. There's no secret formula to becoming the best basketball athlete, even for the LeBrons, Boshs, and Wades of the world. It's all about putting in the quality work required both on and off the court to improve and get better both physically and skill-wise. You've got to learn to love the grind!

Come check us out at ATP to see how we can help you build your best basketball body!

Josh

jdford@gmail.com

416.894.3365

www.facebook.com/ATPbasketball

www.torontoathlete.com

ATP Sport Conditioning Centres located in Downsview Park, 75 Carl Hall Road Unit #15