Tag Archive: basketball

1. Strength and conditioning for basketball: some thoughts.

   9th February 2015 9:34 am 1 Comment

   If you think that basketball conditioning should resemble a scene from Coach Carter with repeated running in straight lines, you might be mistaken.

   I am lucky enough to train some good young basketball players. Most of them arrive with some sort of work ethic and overall athleticism.

   More than a lot of sports, they understand the need for work capacity, speed and the ability to jump.  They come
   from (or gravitate towards) training environments that encourage repeated
   efforts and work capacity.

   But is there too much of a good thing?

   Once the basics have
   been achieved, will just doing more “stuff” help the player, or potentially hinder them? I am trying to work with the players and their coaches on looking at more efficient ways of developing fitness that more resembles the demands and needs of the game and their positions.

   What are the positions?

   A recap on positions for those unfamiliar with the game.

   • Point guard: the general / organiser
   • Shooting guard: they shoot a lot
   • Small forward: good shooters, especially at free throws as
     they draw a lot of attention
   • Power forward: very assertive player, dominant in close
     quarters.
   • Centre: good at jumping, high skill level

   Whilst everyone has to be able to do everything, the positions do have differing demands. When looking at the physical characteristics of the positions, the game might develop people into those athletes, or certain types of athlete gravitate to those positions.

   Physical characteristics

   Centres and power forwards are the heaviest and tallest. They need the greatest mass due to the contact at box outs, picks and rebounds. They need great lower body strength due to prolonged periods of play in the low post/ middle post position.

   Point guards have to be the fittest endurance wise due to their versatility in play. Guards and forwards are only in static positions for 27%/ 28% of the time in a match. Conversely, Centres have been shown to only move linearly for 33% of the match, the rest is more lateral shuffling movements, checking, contact and such like.

   So we can see a difference between the needs of the positions already. As the playing ability goes up, so do the demands of the game as decision making and tactics affects movement demands.

   At International level, players do a lot more high intensity work (above 90% of max Heart Rate) but also a lot more low level work such as shuffling, to recover. The high intensity work is not just running; more body contact requires more static / isometric strength work and moving from this to running is fatiguing as inertia has to be repeatedly overcome.

   The nature of the International matches has been shown to be much more intermittent in nature than National Level matches where the players did not work at such high intensities. National level players spent much more time in a “middle zone” of intensity.

   How Can I get fit for basketball?

   This is the bottom line question that I am often asked. As you can see, there is more to basketball than just shuttle runs.

   If your training consists of repeated bleep tests and suicides, you are getting ready to play mid-level basketball as a guard or forward.

   If you want to play at a higher level, you need to adapt your training accordingly.

   I always follow this simple hierarchy of training:

   1 the person

   2 The athlete

   3 The position.

   Trying to train position specific before addressing the individual needs of the person, then their athleticism is a short cut that will come back to haunt you.

   So the priorities are:

   1 An overall sound movement pattern with no asymmetries.
   This includes the ability to run, jump, skip, land and move sideways. Then the ability to reproduce this repeatedly must be developed.

   2 Look to load these movements and progress to acceleration drills, deceleration drills and single leg work.

   3 Look at position work: with centres needing strength training
   that includes volume to allow an increase in mass. This strength work should be combined with movement patterns that encourage a low centre of gravity and multiple changes of direction in a small area. Guards and forwards can do more repeated jump work combined with high intensity shuttle runs.

   There is a place for testing basketball fitness, I prefer one of the yo-yo tests, plus vertical jump, plus our athletic screening.

   Whilst every young player asks “How can I improve my vertical?” and proceeds to show me an Internet “Jump programme”, I emphasise the need for points 1 and 2 first. As they all practice lay ups and dunks at every opportunity, the priority is for teaching landing techniques and developing strength. The application of this will come through training initially, then specifics later.

   A sure way to detrain the athleticism of your basketball team is to do long slow runs, back to back bleep tests and upper body weights only.

   The players pictured are Sean Clifford (SWT and Excelsior client) who has been made Captain of the Leeds University team and Harry Turner (Millfield school) who played for England -Under 18s this summer.

2. What does Jack Wilshere have in common with a Dinosaur?

   4th December 2014 3:13 pm 4 Comments

   They both suffer from stress fractures!

   Poor old Jack Wilshere will be watching the Champion’s League Final from the comfort of his own home this week.

   Could he have helped Arsenal get to the final if he hadn’t suffered from a stress fracture in training?

   Physiotherapist Sarah Marshall looks at what we know about stress fractures and how to prevent them.

   The human problem

   Stress fractures in the human population were first reported in military recruits in the 19^th century. A stress fracture is an incomplete fracture and caused by a repeated overload to a focal point of bone.

   These injuries can occur in virtually any bone in the body but they are more commonly seen in weight bearing bones amongst runners and footballers e.g. tibia and metatarsals.

   There are many predisposing factors which can contribute to a stress fracture such as:

   • poor mechanics
   • muscle weakness / imbalance
   • training errors
   • poor footwear / training environment
   • inadequate nutrition (Vitamin D deficiency)

   Getting the diagnosis

   Stress fractures are often difficult to diagnose. Many athletes will have continued with their sport for many months before seeking medical attention. Some key things to consider are:

   • Pain will be localised to the fracture site and specifically tender on palpation.
   • Pain will be aggravated by the precipitating activity, becoming severe towards the end.
   • Swelling or bruising is not commonly seen.
   • An x-ray appearance is often normal although signs of repair can be seen at times.
   • MRI and CT scans are the investigation of choice.

   5 things to consider in management of a stress fracture

   1. Relative rest is the initial treatment of all stress fractures. If the stress fracture occurs in a weight bearing bone complete rest and / or a cast or walking boot may be prescribed for up to 8 weeks (or longer in more severe cases).
   2. The amount of recovery time and degree of rest will vary on the location, severity and healing response of the individual.
   3. Return to sport and activity must be a gradual process to enable the bone to adapt to an increased load again.
   4. Further use of investigations are not useful during this rehabilitative phase as they can be deceptive i.e. the fracture site can still be visible even when the bone itself has fully healed.
   5. Healing is best assessed clinically by the absence of tenderness on palpation and a pain free precipitating activity.

   What have Dinosaurs got to do with it?

   A study was published by Bruce Rothschild and other palaeontologists back in 2001 which studied and confirmed the presence of stress fractures in Theropod dinosaurs.

   They were able to conclude that Theropods probably sustained these overuse injuries in the lower end of their third metatarsals whilst holding struggling prey with its feet.

   Don’t train like a Dinosaur (Or Jack): Follow a correct training programme (see here)

   Always seek medical advice before commencing a running regime if you suffer from an illness or have a musculo-skeletal disorder or injury.

    Sarah Marshall 

3. Is it the shoes? 3 tips to improve your vertical jump.

   17th November 2014 9:17 am 3 Comments

   

   Is it the shoes?

   Basketball players looooove their shoes.  Even NBA players have succumbed to the allure of shiny new shoes that claim to improve your vertical jump.

   But more than shoes, there are some simple ways of improving your vertical jump (or Vertical in the basketball vernacular).

   1.  Get stronger legs. Sounds simple, but improving your overall leg strength will mean that you can develop more type IIa muscle fibres that will assist in power development. This means squatting in the range of 80-95% of your maximum, to parallel or below for 3-4 reps and up tot 5 sets.
   2. Work on tendon reactivity and co ordination. Once your legs are strong, then you have to work on the rate of force development- how quickly can you synchronise your muscle and tendon recruitment? One way to do this is ankle tapping drills which work on the foot control and minimising ground contact time.
   3. Game time situations. Your body reacts differently to pressure and the cues of other people around it. Practice jump shots and rebounding in a crowd. This will help you move faster and correspondingly higher than your opponent because you will be working subconsciously through autonomic nerve reflexes, rather than conscious thought. You will have practised in chaos, and be able to transfer that to the game more rapidly.

   Or, if that sounds like hard work, you could go out and buy some new shoes….

   Join our Jump Higher programme to really increase your vertical.

4. Willand Rovers FC in F.A. Cup run

   23rd October 2014 10:25 am Leave a Comment

   Good luck to the Willand Rovers against Gosport Borough F.C.

   My local village club is doing really well in the F.A. Cup this year, having made it through to the 4th qualifying round. They host Gosport at Silver Street this Saturday.

   Physiotherapist Sarah has been helping the club for the last 18 months, screening and treating the players when injured. They are a great bunch, and remarkably polite for footballers.

   I took the team through some preparation work earlier this week.

   

   Captain Scott Rogers came to one of my speed training sessions in the summer and liked how we progressed through the warm ups to the speed. We have been trying to fit in training with the team, but due to the cup run, they have had busy mid-week schedules for the last 2 months.

   

    

   The players all work full time: carpenters, tilers, teachers and office workers. My emphasis when preparing them is getting them to be mobile through the hips and groin, plus the thoracic spine (t spine). They have spent all day hunched over desks or a floor space, so they are very stiff when they come to play.

   Footballers tend to suffer from hamstrings, groin and knee injuries. My job is to help these guys prepare properly so they can avoid the non-contact injuries. The lads took to the unusual (for them) exercises with relish on Tuesday night

   Here is what we started with:

   Good luck on Saturday. Up the Rovers! 

   Kick off 3pm, at Silver Street. The Rovers should be on BBC spotlight tomorrow night at 6.30pm.

5. World Cup Fever: Top 5 football fitness blog posts

   12th June 2014 9:19 am 1 Comment

   World Cup Fever is upon us

   Love it or hate it, there is no getting around it (although I am going to Houston for GAIN next week and that is probably a football desert!).

   I thought this would be a good time to highlight the top 5 football related blog posts since the last World Cup:

   1. Speed endurance for football: theory and practice. Guest post by ex-Oxford United player Darren Watts.
   2. Breaking the jaw alignment myth: why Ronaldo should save his money. Fran’s myth busting blog on the footballer’s fad.
   3. Fitness testing for football. Q&A discussion with Mladen Jovanović.
   4. How to get faster for football. Speed training tips for footballers by Matt Durber.
   5. Are you fit enough to play in the Champions League Final? The complete low down on the fitness demands of playing top level football by Matt Durber.

   Honourable mention goes to “What does Jack Wilshere have in common with a Dinosaur?” by Physiotherapist Sarah Marshall which helps explain why he is always injured!

   Whilst England are taking a young, inexperienced team to Brasil, no doubt the expectations will rise and fall over the next few weeks.

   I shall be shouting at the T.V. as much as the next man “Come on England“.