Strength & Conditioning

Basketball Program

CSCS Needs Analysis

The needs analysis is the initial assessment protocol when starting with a new athlete (great article here from science for sport.) Without starting with the needs analysis, it will be tough to ensure you are programming within the proper parameters to progress an athlete and their overall performance. It consists of the evaluation of the sport being played, as well as an assessment of the individual athlete

• Evaluation of the sport

• Movement analysis

• Determine the proper movement patterns and muscle actions of the sport

• Physiological analysis

• Determine the proper energy system(s) of the sport and the breakdown of each one percentage wise

• Injury Analysis

• What are the most common injuries in the sport and how can we work to prevent them?

• Assessment of the individual athlete

• Training status

• Where is the athlete currently at fitness wise and how long have they been exercising?

• Physical testing and evaluation

• Need accurate pre-program parameters in order to create the program and set goals

• Primary goals

• An athlete will usually have other goals outside of the common sport goals (e.g. want to gain/lose weight). Important to prioritize goals based on season (periodization)

Case Study for basketball player (sports fitness advisor has some great athlete breakdowns)

• We will now go into the needs analysis process for the following athlete:

• 18 year old college freshman basketball player (male), 6”8, 180 lbs

  Here is a GREAT article from NSCA with a periodized program for a basketball player

• Evaluation of the sport

• Movement analysis

• Movements of the sport: Sprinting/running, shooting, dribbling, lateral shuffling, jumping (rebounding & blocking shots)

• Muscle actions/involvement: Triple extension (hips, knees, ankles), shoulder/humeral flexion (shooting, rebounding, blocking shots), elbow flexion/extension (shooting). All major muscles involved in the sport

• Physiological Analysis

• Energy systems used-all 3, but primarily phosphagen and glycolytic, as the main requirements are power (expressed through quickness & explosiveness), strength, and sometimes anaerobic capacity. The breakdown would be roughly 60% PCr, 30% glycolysis (primarily fast glycolysis) and 10% oxidation.

Injury Analysis

• Common injuries of the sport-sprained ankles, strained/pulled hamstrings/calves, torn achilles & ACL, foot injuries, back injuries (e.g. spasms)

• Assessment of the individual athlete

• Training status–Intermediate

• Athlete did not start weight lifting until the summer before his senior year of high school (1 year ago) and only lifted twice/week. Has a good understanding of the basics of resistance training, but hasn't done much advanced lifting (i.e. Olympic lifting)

• Primary goals

• Put on 10lbs of muscle to keep up with the increased physicality from high school to college

• Get stronger especially in lower body, increase explosiveness and lateral quickness

• Improve overall hamstring strength & health (strained hamstrings a lot in high school)

• Pre-test numbers:

• 1RM Squat-225

• 1RM Bench-245

• 1RM Power Clean-190

• Vertical Jump-24

• Pro Agility Test-4.50sec

Program for a Basketball

Player Pre-Season

Warm-Up – Inchworms, hip CARs, ballistic knee tuck to sit ups, thread the needle (thoracic openers).

1 – Core (power) movement – KB clean: 3×6/side

A- Core movement (hinge) – KB swings: 3×10

B- Accessory – KB sit up: 3×6/side

3 sets resting 2-3 minutes after the KB sit ups.

2- Core movement (squat) – front squat: 3×15

A- Core movement (horizontal push) – Incline DB chest press: 3×12

B- Accessory – Cable Pallofs: 3×10/side (read and watch EVERYTHING PALLOF's HERE)

3 sets resting 2-3 minutes after Pallofs.

3. Core movement (Unilateral & hinge) – KB RDL: 3×8

A- Core movement (horizontal pull) – Single Arm row: 3×12/arm

B- Accessory – Copenhagens 3×15-30 seconds (make sure the medial knee is resting on the bench and not the ankle.)

Finisher: push-up AMRAP into 1-liner and then AMRAP push-up for 3 sets. Rest 90-seconds and repeat for 3-5 rounds pending on the condition of the athlete.