A regulation basketball court is 94 feet long but many courts at the high school and college level are just 84 feet long. This is the longest that players will be asked to sprint at one time. However, usually players will only be asked to sprint for much shorter distances. That’s why quickness on the basketball court is usually more important than speed.

To improve quickness on the basketball court, players should be required to perform basketball quickness drills everyday in practice. These drills will not only improve a player’s quickness but, if done properly, the drills will also help improve a player’s conditioning.

All basketball quickness drills are done individually. Therefore, players should be encouraged to work on their own quickness outside of practice and even outside the basketball season. If a player performs basketball quickness drills throughout the year then that player will have a much better chance of seeing dramatic improvements in his/her quickness.

Many basketball quickness drills involve a player jumping over one of the lines on the floor. These drills help to improve the foot quickness and coordination of the players who perform them. These basketball quickness drills require players to jump back and forth over a line on first one foot and then the other. A player can also jump with both feet together. The jumps should be done quickly. Be sure to allow your team a proper basketball warm-up prior to beginning these drills to avoid injury.

Another of the great basketball drills involves players doing different things and then turning and sprinting when the whistle blows. For example, for one drill all the players line-up on one baseline. Then on the first whistle all the players begin to back peddle. At the next whistle all the players turn and sprint to the other end of the floor. This drill helps improve the quickness of the feet while transitioning from doing one thing to doing another.

There are many positions and activities that can be used while performing this type of basketball quickness drills. Players can be required to slide their feet while being down in a defensive position. Players could also be required to run sideways, crossover their feet while going sideways, or slide their feet while going sideways. Again, for these basketball quickness drills a player will begin doing one thing and then transition to sprinting forward when the whistle blows.

Another of the many great basketball quickness drills that players can do involves having two lines on the floor about 18 inches apart. The player stands with his/her feet outside the lines. Then he/she stands on his/her toes and jumps inside the lines and then outside the lines. The player keeps doing this until they have done 5 sets of 20.

There are many great basketball quickness drills that players can do both in and outside of practice. These drills will not only improve a player’s quickness but they’ll also improve his/her endurance.