Increasing your overall foot speed and agility can have a huge impact your game. Basketball is a game of speed and quickness, so every little advantage you can get in these areas will help you to gain a competitive edge over the competition. Foot speed drills are beneficial for improving overall speed on the court, but most of all they are great for improving defensive footwork.
Skip Rope
Skipping rope will help to build up your calf muscles and improve overall quickness. For optimal results, skip at a high intensity as fast as you can. Do this for one minute before resting for 30 seconds. Complete a total of three to five of these sets per workout. Be sure to stretch the calf and hamstring muscles after finishing this workout.
Suicides
This drill requires a regulation basketball court for best results. This is a sprinting drill that improves overall foot speed as well as side-to-side agility. Start at one baseline and sprint to the free throw line; touch this line with your hand before returning to the starting position at the baseline. Then sprint to half court, and again touch the line with your hand before returning to the baseline. Next, do the same thing for the free throw line and baseline in the far court. Do three to five of these sets. The key to making this drill effective is to go all out the entire time; sprint to each line, and make each turn as quickly as possible.
Defensive Foot Speed Drill
Start at one end of the court and get in a defensive posture. Have another player dribble the ball to the opposite end of the court using a zig-zag motion and moving at various speeds from jogging to sprinting up court. You must stay in your defensive stance and slide your feet quickly to stay in front of the dribbler; you may need to turn and sprint to get in front of him or her. This defensive footwork drill emphasizes quick feet and the basic defensive strategy of keeping the offensive player in front of you as they move up the court.
Square Jumping
For this foot speed drill, you can choose to use a jump rope or not. Either find an approximately 12 inch equilateral square shape on the floor or use tape to make one, and jump in a square pattern touching each corner of the square with each jump. You want to emphasize speed and quickness with this drill, so do not jump higher than a few inches off the ground and move as fast as you can from one corner to the next. This drill will help to improve your foot speed, coordination and it will help work the smaller muscles of the legs at various angles. Do this drill at one-minute increments, and try to increase the number of jumps you complete each time.
