Hoops is a game of attrition, a fact that becomes painfully clear every March. The strongest, healthiest, and best-conditioned teams are the last ones standing. So to help you elevate your game, we recruited 16 of the NCAA's top strength and conditioning coaches, whose teams often play long after everyone else has gone home. Use their favorite training tricks and tips to pick up your performance. But the real reward is this: These routines blast fat and build muscle. Who says your best days on the court -- and in front of the mirror—are behind you? (And if you really want to elevate your game, try The Super-Athlete Workout.)

Basketball Drills From NCAA Strength Coaches Slideshow

 

1. Break Fast, Jonas Sahratin, c.s.c.s.
North Carolina

To make sure his players are the first ones down the court on a fast break, Sahratian has his Tar Heels do resisted sprints: One player runs as hard as he possibly can while a partner stands behind him and slows him down using a special harness. To buy your own, search for "resistance trainers" on the Perform Better website ($45, performbetter.com). You can achieve a similar workout, though, with an everyday bath towel. Wrap the towel around your waist and have a workout partner stand behind you and hold its ends. Then run as fast as you possibly can for 10 to 20 yards as he provides resistance. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat the drill five times, and then try it once without resistance. And to see the total-body conditioning workout that Sahratian uses with the Tar Heels. It's a muscle-building, fat-blasting routine that requires only an 8-pound medicine ball.

 

2. Crash the Boards, Mike Malone, c.s.c.s. Kentucky

The Wildcats dominate the boards because of the band overhead squat, a warmup move that adds spring to their steps. Grab a half-inch-wide resistance band, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Stand on the band and spread your feet slightly beyond shoulder width. Press the band overhead and hold it there with your arms straight; this is the starting position. Push your hips back and squat until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. (Keep your torso upright and your back naturally arched.) Explosively spring back to the starting position. Do 2 or 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps before any game or workout.

 

3. Grab and Go, Ryan Cabiles, c.s.c.s.
Syracuse

Great basketball requires relentless movement—setting rock-solid screens, boxing out for a big rebound, and playing dogged defense. Cabiles puts his Orange to the test with a drill called around the world: Set an empty container under the hoop. Distribute five cones evenly along the three-point line, or about 20 feet from the container, and place a tennis ball on each cone. Starting at the container, sprint to the ball farthest to your right, grab it, sprint back, and drop it into the receptacle. Spin around, retrieve the next ball, and sprint back. Repeat until you've retrieved all five. Do this drill 8 to 10 times, alternating your starting direction. Rest 30 to 45 seconds between drills. (Have you found it hard to stick to your workouts? Don't worry -- the No Gym, No Excuses Workout will help you incinerate fat and pack on muscle without lifting a weight.)

 

4. Stretch Your Boundaries, Charlie Melton, c.s.c.s., s.c.c.c. Baylor

Basketball is a game of length, and the farther you can extend your limbs in every direction without hurting yourself, the more distance you can cover. The Bears boost their range of motion with the spiderman crawl, a lower-body drill that builds mobility. Assume a pushup position. Now take a big step forward with your right foot and place it outside your right hand. Pause for a few seconds, and then lower your head and chest for a deeper stretch in your thigh muscles. Walk your hands out until you're once again in a pushup position, and step forward with your left leg. Do 8 to 10 reps on each side.

 

5. Get Tenacious on D, Scott Hettenbach, c.s.c.s. Wisconsin

To build strength and endurance in the defensive quarter-squat position, the Badgers do the triangle of terror. You'll need an exercise band with handles. Grab the handles and stand on the band, over its center, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and press your arms straight out from your sides so you're in a D stance. Mimic how you'd move on defense by shuffling 10 steps to the right and then 10 steps to the left. Repeat 5 times. That's 1 set. Do 5, resting 1 minute in between

 

6. Achieve Liftoff, Andrea Hudy, c.s.c.s. Kansas

True power comes from quick, strong movements -- similar to what happens when you jump to block a shot or box out for a big rebound. That's why explosive lifts, such as the dumbbell single-arm snatch, are a staple of the Jayhawks' workouts. In a hip-width stance, grab a dumbbell in your left hand and hold it, using an overhand grip, at arm's length in front of your hips. Then bend at your hips and knees until the weight hangs just above your knees. Now jump, shrug your left shoulder, pull the dumbbell up, and catch it overhead with your arm straight. Do 4 sets of 3 reps with each arm.

 

7. Hunker Down, Tim Beltz, c.s.c.s. Pittsburgh

Squats are tricky for hoops players -- long limbs and torsos may make it tougher for them to maintain optimal form. The Zercher squat lowers the center of gravity, so Pitt players stay safe while still squatting heavy. Set the bar in a rack just below chest height. Holding the bar in the crook of your arms, lift it off the supports. Step back, holding it against your abdomen and keeping your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Return to standing. Do 3 sets of 5 reps, resting 2 minutes. For a plan to help strengthen those crucial quad muscles, find out How to Sculpt Legs Like an Olympian.)

 

8. Stick the Landing, Bob Alejo, c.s.c.s. North Carolina State

The higher you jump, the harder you land, putting you at risk for serious injury. That's why the Wolfpack does eccentric stepups, an exercise that strengthens the muscles that help protect your knees and hips. Holding your arms straight out in front of you, keep your right leg straight and place your left foot on a step or bench that's 18 to 24 inches off the floor. This is the starting position. Without using your right leg, push down through your left heel to lift your body until both feet are on the step or bench. Take 2 seconds to return to the starting position. Complete 12 reps. Switch legs and repeat.

 

9. Branch Out, Curtis Turner, c.s.c.s., s.c.c.c. Vanderbilt

The Commodores prepare to handle the unexpected with a drill called maps. Players are given a map of the campus with various highlighted locations, each of which features a fitness challenge. Create your own map drill at a local park. Give yourself five challenges -- squats, pullups, squat thrusts, pushups, and agility drills, say -- and space them about 100 yards apart. Pick a number of repetitions for each that's difficult yet attainable. Go through the stations as quickly as you can two or three times. Do this once a week.

 

10. Think Fast, Travis Knight, c.s.c.s. Gonzaga

Reaction time can mean the difference between smoking your opponent and being smoked. The Bulldogs use a unique hand-eye drill to build coordination and prepare themselves for intense NCAA game speed and pressure. Find a half dozen or more tennis balls. Mark half of them clearly with an L and the others with an R. Place the balls in a plastic bag. Without looking, reach in, grab a ball, and toss it against a wall. Catch the L balls with your left hand and the R balls with your right. When you miss a total of five, do 10 pushups. Stop the drill when you reach 50 pushups.

 

11. Get Warm, Mike Curtis, c.s.c.s. Virginia

A 2011 study found that a quick dynamic warmup may help players jump higher. So the Cavaliers do the multidirectional lunge: Hold a medicine ball in front of your chest, and stand with your feet hip-width apart; this is the starting position. Do 3 lunges with your left leg: Lunge forward, step back. Lunge left, step back. Finally, step across your body with your left leg, turning your hips and shoulders to the right as you lunge. Return to the starting position. Repeat the lunges with your right leg. That's 1 rep. Do 1 or 2 sets of 4 to 6 reps to warm up.

 

12. Sweat to the Oldies, Je'Ney Jackson, c.s.c.s., s.c.c.c. Indiana

College ballers are magnificently conditioned athletes. Even some team managers could run the average weekend player off the court. The Hoosiers' warmup sequence would be a great cardio workout for anyone, and it works equally well before or after a training session. Stand on one end of the court. Jog to the other end. Backpedal to the start. Now do a high-knee run across the court, and again backpedal to the start. Follow that with a butt-kick run (lifting your heels high enough to kick your glutes on each step), a left-foot-leading side shuffle, a right-foot-leading side shuffle, and a high-kick run (like a drum major's strut) on your next four trips out. Backpedal to the start after each. Do this sequence once for a warmup, or do it 2 to 4 times for a fat-burning finisher.

 

13. Drive Hard, Chris West, c.s.c.s. Connecticut

West makes sure his Huskies are as solid as Mack trucks when driving to the basket by training them with the kneeling cable core press, a move that strengthens and stabilizes every muscle from hips to core to shoulders. To do it, attach a D handle to a hip-level pulley on a cable machine, and kneel with your right side next to the weight stack. Hold the handle against your chest. Press your arms straight out, hold for 10 seconds, and return the handle to your chest. Do this 10 times, and then turn around so your left side is next to the weight stack. Repeat the movement. That's 1 set. Do 1 more. (Have the best new exercises from top trainers delivered to you weekly. Sign up for the Men's Health Exercise of the Week newsletter.)

 

14. 'Jop' Till You Drop, Andy Weigel, c.s.c.s. Alabama

The next time you watch a game, check out the star players' feet: Sure, the players run and jump, but they also hop, leap, lunge, shuffle, and "jop" -- jump off both feet and land on one. It's a lot of impact to absorb with one leg. That's why the Tide train with the multidirectional jop. Stand with your knees slightly bent. Jump forward 12 inches and land on your right foot. Hop backward to the start, landing on both feet. Repeat on your left foot. Next, do the sequence going sideways. Do 2 sets of 4 jops in each direction as a warmup. Or, for a fat-torching workout, hold a medicine ball in front of your chest and perform 4 sets of 4 in each direction.

 

15. Catch Air, Jimmy Price, c.s.c.s. Illinois

All else being equal, the guy who can jump highest has a tremendous advantage, so the Fighting Illini do band jumps to add inches to their vertical and improve their overall athleticism. You'll need an exercise band with handles. Grab a very heavy dumbbell and place it on the floor between your feet. Loop the band under the dumbbell and hold one handle in each hand. Curl the handles up to your shoulders, and keep them there throughout the drill. Push your hips back and jump, extending your hips, knees, and ankles as quickly as possible. Jump as high as you can on each rep and take a few seconds to recover in between. Do 3 sets of 5 jumps, resting 30 seconds between sets.

 

16. Press Your Luck, Frank Matrisciano, Memphis

We think of basketball as a game of sprints, lunges, and jumps. But it's also a game of nonstop reaches, pushes, pulls, and lifts, which can be hell on your shoulders. For unwavering upper-body stamina, the Tigers do this shoulder drill: Grab an 8-pound medicine ball. Stand with your dominant foot forward, holding the ball chest-high. Press the ball forward as in a chest pass, but don't release the ball. That's 1 rep. Do 30 reps, 6 seconds each. Then slowly press the ball up and slightly forward, as if you're grabbing a rebound. Again, do 30 reps, 6 seconds each. That's 1 set. Rest for 45 seconds, and then do 2 more sets. Whether you're in the peak of your physical prime or pushing 50, prep for the healthiest decade of your life with the Injury Prevention Workout Plan. It will keep you pain-free and in the game.

previous next