In this first phase of offseason training - and this is contrary to what many of you want to hear (and have been told) - you need to get off the basketball court. You need to rest your joints. What we are going to do in the gym is work on structural balance and body composition. What I mean by body composition is the ration of lean muscle mass to body fat. Many...

Dr. Tudor Bompa is a Romanian-born sports scientist who has written 14 books on sports performance and has influenced countless strength coaches including the likes of Charles Poliquin. In fact, if there is a strength coach you follow the chances are more likely than not they have been influenced either directly or indirectly by Dr. Bompa's work.

His books on yo...

Eliminate jumper's knee with this one exercise. Basketball players, volleyball players, read on. This injury doesn't have to slow you down.

Basketball season is getting closer with each passing day. Because of this you should be making a point of starting to peak your off-season training if you haven't already. As a good rule of thumb to follow, the closer you are to your preseason camp starting the more you should be training at peak intensity - meaning weight - and peak technicality.

What this mea...

I recently wrote an article for the website www.hoopdirt.com entitled “Three Ways To Get More Explosive This Offseason”. 

I love the game of basketball. I love the character traits it helps to produce in people but also the traits it reveals in people.

I have played basketball on five continents. I have led, or helped lead, basketball camps in America, Lithuania,...

With all of the information out there regarding how to increase your vertical jump as well, as how to increase your top speed, it can be confusing to know which is ultimately the right way to train.

Do I train with weights? Do I buy one of those "speed ladders"? Do I do a lot of plyometrics?

In this video I break down for you what the science says helps us -...

That is the question! 

Now, you might be asking yourself, "what the heck is  a butt-wink?!"

But, trust me, this is a topic that I've been asked about more times than I can think of.

When someone performs a squat going to full range of motion you can see their hips sort of "tuck under" their back. This is referred to as the "butt-wink".

It happens in different peopl...

The step-up is one of the most common gym exercises around. It's popularity is arguably unmatched in athletes and general population gym-goers alike. It's a great way to strengthen each individual leg and correct imbalances, if found.

A typical progression would be to go from bodyweight to dumbbells, then barbell on the back and finally barbell loaded on the fro...

Do you want to jump higher, run faster and be more explosive on the court? “Uhhhhh, yeah. Of course I do.”

Then get stronger.

Strength is vastly important in basketball because to be more athletic you need to focus on improving your rate of force production.

How hard of a force you use to push off the ground vertically - to jump - and horizontally - to sprint (or...

If you want to improve your vertical jump and become more powerful do this exercise. You can see increases in your vertical jump, sprinting ability and lateral quickness.