Fitness Training for Basketball Players – Benefits of Sprint Hill Training (4 to 6)

Basketball coaches are always looking for ways to get ahead of the game. This article will tell coaches how to train their players and get an advantage when playing inside the court. This article tackles fitness training to be faster, stronger and jump higher.

Here is the continuation of the benefits of Sprint Hill Training.

4. Hill sprints increase basketball players’ speed and explosiveness.

Sprint hill training promotes two key factors in running faster and jumping higher. First, it forces proper knee lift – essential for driving the legs downward and back for more force. Second, hill sprinting makes the sprinter dorsi-flex their foot while running. As the toes gets closer, the more force they can apply on ground contact. Dorsi-flexing can be compared to loading your foot – then unloading it into the ground – pushing you forward.

Explosiveness is also shown in the way hill sprints increases your players’ vertical jumps – a key measure of power. Jumping is almost the same as sprinting – it pushes the body forward (or up) against gravity. The power comes from the leg as it pushes.

5. Hill sprints provide a way to safely train your athletes.

Aside from protection from an ankle injury, hill sprinting protects your athletes’ from other types of injuries, as well. No coach would want to see their athletes injured while conditioning.

Hill sprinting presents safety in two ways: One, the slightly shorter walk length while running a hill sprint is a fantastic way to strengthen the hamstring; therefore minimizing injuries. Most hamstring pulls and strains results from over-extension – something which rarely occurs when sprinting hills.

Second, hill sprints lessen the impact on your players’ legs. Researchers have proven that even a slight grade added to sprints can decrease the impact on the runner’s legs by as much as 25%. Shin splints, foot problems and sore knees can be avoided if the players engaged in sprint hill training.

6. Hill sprints as mental training

Aside from all of the physical benefits that hill sprinting can offer, they also promote mental toughness and goal-setting behavior for your athletes. The hill can be a daunting task for a player looking and the players were tired, and nearing the end of their sprint session. The hill serves as a task as an obstacle for the players’ goal. If they can’t reach the task then, they might be branded as a quitter. Upon reaching the hill, players can feel the importance of having a goal (the top of the hill), when they take the steps necessarily to reach it. It is as they were Rocky at the top of the hill. As they look back, the athletes can feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something that may have seemed an impossible obstacle.