Basketball Equipment, Training Aids, Apparel, and Shoes

The first thing you must do when designing a plyometric program to develop your vertical jump or that of your players, is consult your coach, trainer and/or doctor. The second thing you must do is measure the following abilities:

1. Standing jump-and-reach. Standing on both feet, reach as high you can on a wall or goal post; mark that height. Then jump off both feet and reach as high on the wall as you can; again mark that height. Now record the difference between the two marks.
2. Jump from box. Do a depth jump by stepping off an 18-inch box. After you land, quickly jump and reach as high as you can on the wall; record the height of that mark.
3. Three-step vertical jump. Take three steps and on the last step (this should be your preferred foot) jump up and reach as high as you can on the wall; mark that spot.
4. One-repetition maximum squat. Determine the maximum amount of weight you can lift one time doing a traditional squat. Standing with your back to the bar, which is resting on a rack at shoulder height, lift the bar to rest on your shoulders, bend your hips and knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor and return to the top.
5. Five-repetition/five-second squat @ 60% of body weight. Perform squats with a barbell holding 60% of your body weight. Attempt to do 5 repetitions in 5 seconds.

Tests 1, 2 and 3 will show what your current vertical jumping ability is and also give you the information to measure your progress by. It’ll also show if there’s a difference when you jump from one foot as compared to two feet.

Tests 4 and 5 will show whether you have adequate strength to embark on a plyometric training program. For example, if you could only lift 75% of your body weight for your one-rep max and it took you 7.5 seconds to do 5 reps of your 60% body weight exercise, this would tell you that strength training is more a priority than taking on high-intensity plyometrics.

There are many other factors in creating a plyometric work-out that is perfect for you. Your age, experience, strength, athletic ability and history of injuries are all important factors. Not to mention when you are training; is it off-season, pre-season or during season. This is just an example. You must decide what is best for you.