Strength Role In Basketball

A sixth month training programme has been planned for Lewis Hards, an amateur basketball player planning to reach his apex and more importantly is aiming to increase strength in basketball. Additionally Lewis wants to compete for the men’s southern eastern regional trails scheduled for the end of the year.

Using published peer review academic lecture, studies illustrate strength plays a significant role in basketball players as it’s a component they are very reliant on due to the power necessary for running, jumping, passing, shooting and rebounding. Many actions on the court are fast, that often involves a quick burst and necessitates great heights of power output, specifically in the leg and hip area as research has proven lower body strength increases an individual’s vertical jump (Baker, 2000; Fleck, 1999; Kevin & Fulton, 2001). Correspondingly the recruitment of muscle mass is crucial in basketball because this contributes to the stretch shortening cycle of the leg muscles that facilitates the leg muscles to create more contractile energy (Clutch et al, 2000; Bobbert and Van Ingen Schenau, 2002) as jumping plays a large role in an individual’s ability to jump for the ball. Therefore the purpose of this work-out preparation programme for Lewis Hards will dominantly be based upon strength as (many refs) reveal it’s a key catalyst in empowering athletes and enhancing human performance. Additionally it has been declared by (Chandler and Brown, 2008) it is important for the design of an appropriate training programme involves the controlling of the number of sets, intensity of exercise, volume, load, rate of progression and rest periods in order for greater gains in performance over the long term. In comparison it is also importa...

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...individuals; this is further supported by the ACSM guidelines (Ratamess et al., 2009). Willardson et al.’s (2008) research can be applied to Mr Hards programme as subjects had a wealth of strength training experience; they do however highlight that rest periods can vary depending on individual training age, level and goals. To conclude if the training difficulty is not increased at a point, no further gains in the specific muscle groups (Quads/hamstrings, Gastrocnemius/Soleus and Gluteus). Therefore to progressively overload targeted muscles groups contains increasing total training volume by increasing number of sets or repetitions and rest periods. More importantly these changes must be implemented steadily to allow sufficient time for physiological adaptations, due to these factors total training volume should be made in small amount of 2.5% to 5% (ACSM, 2002).