Basketball Strength Training: Plyometrics and Jumping

Basketball strength training and basketball plyometric training can develop strength, jumping and explosive performance in studied programs. Kalle Kizzier examines the research, team training habits and common concerns about lifting weights while emphasizing that strength work should complement basketball skills practice.

In the United States, athletics and academics are tied together in the school system. Students compete for their respective schools in a number of sports at a variety of levels that most often include Freshman, Junior Varsity, and Varsity (typically the highest level). Most public high schools have some form of weight-room for their sports teams and physical education classes.

Walk into any typical high school weight room across America and you will most likely find football players, the weight-lifting team, and maybe a teacher or two trying to get a workout in after school.

An often-underrepresented group in the weight room is the basketball team. Why?

Resistance training (especially when combined with plyometrics) can increase a basketball player’s performance on the hardwood in a number of ways. Increased strength, increased anaerobic and aerobic capacity, increased vertical jump, and increased explosiveness, to name a few.

Why make basketball strength training part of team culture?

Football teams, players and coaches, have long understood the importance of the weight room, probably due to the extremely physical nature of their sport. The best high school football teams practically live in the weight-room year-round because they have determined that’s where high level athletes are built.

Therefore, an athlete whose focus is on football may join the basketball team (at the high school level) and often have a significant impact despite not being very skilled at basketball. They are often bigger, stronger, and faster than the basketball-focused athletes because of the dedicated time they spend in the weight-room.

Unfortunately, there is a pervasive narrative among young basketball players and some uneducated coaches. They believe that resistance training will make them too “bulky” for basketball, affect their shooting, and affect their basketball skills in a negative way.

However, this could not be further from the truth. We will explore evidence to convince young basketball players and high school teams to get into the weight-room and encourage a culture that embraces the weight-room for basketball players.

What does research on basketball plyometric training show?

In “Effects of Complex Training on Explosive Strength in Adolescent Male Basketball Players.” published in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, Santos and Janeira researched the effect of complex training, the use of strength training and plyometrics, being applied to 14–15-year-old males to improve explosive strength. The 2008 complex-training study showed that after a 10 week in-season program, the experimental group showed significant gains over the control group in the studied values that identify explosive strength related to basketball.

The research concluded that “Our results support the use of complex training to improve the upper and lower body explosivity levels in young basketball players. This study showed that more strength conditioning is needed during the sport practice season.”

Basketball is a sport in which explosive strength is vital for success. Whether it is expressed through quick cuts by a speedy point guard, or a high-flying wing driving through the lane, explosiveness is a massive factor of success in the sport.

While some have the genetics to be explosive even at a young age it is also a factor that can be developed in the weight room via strength training and plyometrics. Some adolescents may have untapped potential for explosiveness, and a strength training program can help them find it.

How can teams make strength training consistent?

Strength training can improve measured strength and explosive performance in studied programs; those outcomes alone do not guarantee better overall basketball play for every athlete. How often the team trains may vary due to factors such as time and accessibility to weights.

But they should build a regular program that is consistent and accepted by the whole team.

Coaches should hold the whole team accountable in this regard, and strength training sessions should be as mandatory as practice sessions. Any basketball team that builds a culture through the weight-room could have a faster, stronger, and more explosive team.

They would have a tighter knit group of young athletes, as the weight room can be used as a viable team bonding experience. Building life-long healthy habits for teenagers through teaching them the fundamentals of weightlifting is another aspect of what they do for their team.

Will strength training make basketball players too bulky?

A common myth among teenage basketball players is that lifting weights will make them too “bulky” for basketball and ruin their shooting ability. This idea may be promoted by looking at NBA players like Kevin Durant, whose lean and extremely long physique has earned him the nickname “the Slim Reaper”.

NBA physiques and training practices vary; individual examples do not establish one routine or body type for every player. Obvious examples of impressive physiques in the NBA include LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo (used here as an example in the author’s coaching discussion). Steph Curry, one of the game’s great shooters, has also incorporated strength training.

At the elite level there comes a point that players should not focus on hypertrophy. It could possibly interfere with a proven and established shot form.

A typical teenager who most likely has very little muscle should not be worrying about getting too “bulky” from hypertrophy. Young players’ strength programmes should suit their development, experience and basketball goals.

The cited explosive-strength study does not determine a muscle-gain threshold that affects basketball skill or isolate ergogenic aids as the only exception. Strength training and basketball skill practice should be coordinated; changes in shooting depend on the athlete and program rather than a guarantee about added muscle mass. Of course, if a basketball player drops out of basketball completely in favor of weights, they are going to regress in basketball.

Strength training should complement basketball training, not replace it. Growth can change coordination and shooting mechanics, but these studies do not rank it as the greatest cause of shooting difficulty or demonstrate that weightlifting reverses that effect.

How can strength and skills develop during growth?

There have been high school basketball players that, after a growth spurt, were 6’4” and 140 pounds soaking wet. Often these players continue to shoot like they did when they were short. The author raises shot-form adjustment as a coaching concern; the cited strength study does not establish weight gain as the solution.

Often, the release points on their shot are too low. Growing up they were used to shoving the ball towards the hoop. But at their new height, they need to adjust to a higher release point.

Strength may be relevant to a player’s development, but adapting shot form requires individual skill coaching; the cited study did not measure that adaptation. Otherwise, they may continue to shove the ball towards the hoop like a child. This is an inconsistent and inefficient way to shoot the basketball, making it a much easier shot to block.

Those who believe the myth that strength training will make them too bulky for basketball are misinformed. They need enlightened coaches to guide them in the right direction (which is the weight room).

How can training support a basketball vertical jump?

How high a basketball player can jump is another factor that can help determine their success on the hardwood. Like general explosiveness, vertical jump can be trained through strength training and plyometrics. Jump height involves multiple factors; measured strength and rapid force production do not form a single validated prediction of jump height.

They can build up their overall strength “bank” through movements like squat, deadlift, bench, and other compound movements.

To increase vertical, the player needs to be able to focus a high percentage of that strength in a split of a second. Coaches can introduce explosive movements to train that ability. Power cleans, depth jumps, and push press are just some movements used for this.

The strength-bank analogy illustrates the author’s training argument, rather than a validated formula linking squat loads or percentages to jump height.

A squat load alone does not determine whether one player will outjump another.

Therefore, using both strength training and explosive movements like plyometrics will build overall strength, and help to tap into a large amount of strength very quickly.

Evidence of this concept is reviewed in “Evaluation of Plyometric Exercise Training, Weight Training, and Their Combination on Vertical Jumping Performance and Leg Strength”. The publication examines vertical-jump performance and leg strength under different training approaches, supporting the author’s strength-and-power training argument. This is another reason to consider using the weight room.

What can coaches do next?

High school basketball players should be in the weight room on a regular basis. The evidence is clear, but it is up to the coaches across the country to apply it to their own programs.

Players need to be guided by informed coaches and taught the benefits of strength training. Most young athletes will not do something simply because they were told to.

If you are a coach, you’re an authority figure responsible for explaining why it is important. Coaches should be capable of explaining why it is worth spending time in the weight room and be able to address common myths among adolescents as false misconceptions. Coaches, if your players are not in the weight room consistently, you are letting them fall short of their full potential as an athlete and basketball player.

References

Santos, Eduardo J. A. M.; Janeira, Manuel A. A. S. The Effects of Resistance Training on Explosive Strength Indicators in Adolescent Basketball Players, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: October 2012 – Volume 26 – Issue 10 – p 2641-2647doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823f8dd4

Fatouros, I. G., Jamurtas, A. Z., Leontsini, D., Taxildaris, K., Aggelousis, N., Kostopoulos, N., & Buckenmeyer, P. (2000). Evaluation of Plyometric Exercise Training, Weight Training, and Their Combination on Vertical Jumping Performance and Leg Strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 14(4), 470. https://doi.org/10.1519/1533-4287(2000)014%3C0470%3Aeopetw%3E2.0.co%3B2

Santos, E. J. A. M., & Janeira, M. A. A. S. (2008). Effects of complex training on explosive strength in adolescent male basketball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22(3), 903–909. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e31816a59f2

Pull Quotes:

“Most public high schools have some form of weight-room for their sports teams and physical education classes.”

“Some adolescents may have untapped potential for explosiveness, and a strength training program can help them find it.”

“A common myth amongst teenage basketball players is that lifting weights will make them too “bulky” for basketball and ruin their shot.”