Maximum’s philosophy on training basketball players stems from the sport-specific actions they need to build, along with the tools that college coaches and professional scouts use to judge the ability and potential of guards, forwards & centers.
These include:
- Ability to shoot, pass, rebound, and defend
- Ability to change directions quickly
- Ability to jump quickly
- Ability to accelerate and decelerate quickly
- Ability to see the floor
Based on these skills, basketball players must develop joint stability, balance, and connective tissue strength through the ankle, knee, back and shoulders (to support and stabilize explosive jumping, sprinting, changing direction and decelerating), posterior chain strength and power (to develop strength through glutes, hips, and legs for jumping ability and speed), reactive ability, quickness, and lateral speed (for first-step quickness and defensive ability), and core strength (to stabilize lower lumber spine, and to aid in control of large motor movements)
Although each position has its unique demands, all basketball players must improve these essential basic motor abilities. A basketball player’s ability to run is most often judged by their times from baseline to opposite free-throw line. Their ability to change directions quickly is most often judged by their time around the ‘key’.
