Beating your opponent as a defender is extremely important come game time. A good defense is just as important as a good offense. To be a good defender, you want to work on your footwork, speed, agility, and awareness on the court. These 3 exercises will help with all of these components.
Jump Rope- Apart from being a great conditioning exercise, jumping rope helps with your footwork and quickness. Improving footwork makes you a better defender, a better shooter, and much more.
Line Jumps- You can use lines on the court or draw with chalk if you are doing this drill at home. Line jumps help with speed, coordination, and agility. It is important in this exercise to do a variety of jumps across the line. Do front jumps, side jumps, one foot jumps, forwards and backwards.
The Ladder Drill- Again you can do this exercise at home by drawing the ladder with chalk or you can use a ladder bought at any sports store. This exercise is great for Footwork, coordination, and body awareness. This drill helps you get mentally focused. Again, with this drill you want to incorporate variation, with one foot jumps, two foot jumps, every other foot, etc. It is important to switch it up.
These are great warm-up exercises in practice or great conditioning exercises you can work on at home to improve quickness.
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