Get Ready for Basketball Season: 5 Ways to Improve Performance and Reduce Injury Risk

Kathy Ryan-Ceisel, PT MHS | Algonquin Sports PT

Overhead Throwing Expert-Athletic Edge and Wellness Edge

Basketball Season Is Almost Here! Is Your Body Ready for the Demands of the Game?

Basketball is a physically demanding sport. Whether you are playing on a boys' or girls' team, competing at the middle school, high school, or club level, preparing for the season involves much more than shooting free throws and practicing ball-handling skills.

Basketball requires repeated sprinting, jumping, landing, cutting, pivoting, and changing direction. These movements place significant demands on the muscles and joints of the lower body, particularly the ankles and knees.

One of the biggest mistakes athletes make is going from a relatively inactive summer or limited offseason training directly into intense basketball practices, conditioning sessions, and games.

Your body needs to be prepared for the demands of basketball BEFORE the season begins.

Preseason preparation should focus on developing cardiovascular endurance, building lower-extremity strength, improving jumping and landing mechanics, and developing the ability to tolerate repeated high-intensity movements.

Here are five important areas every basketball player should address before stepping onto the court.

1. Build Cardiovascular Endurance: Be Ready for Four Quarters of Basketball

Basketball is not a continuous endurance sport like distance running. It is an intermittent sport that requires repeated bursts of high-intensity activity followed by short periods of recovery.

Think about what happens during a game:

• Sprinting down the court during a fast break.

• Quickly transitioning from offense to defense.

• Repeated defensive slides.

• Jumping for rebounds.

• Cutting and accelerating to get open.

• Recovering briefly before the next play.

These activities require both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.

Why does cardiovascular conditioning matter?

The aerobic energy system plays an important role in helping athletes recover between high-intensity efforts. If an athlete lacks cardiovascular endurance, fatigue can accumulate as the game progresses.

Fatigue can affect more than just running speed. It can also influence reaction time, coordination, movement control, and the ability to maintain proper jumping and landing mechanics.

How should basketball players condition?

Rather than relying exclusively on long-distance running, conditioning should gradually progress toward the demands of basketball.

Consider incorporating:

• Tempo running: Controlled running intervals to develop an aerobic base.

• Shuttle runs: Short-distance running with acceleration and deceleration.

• Defensive slides: Repeated lateral movement while maintaining athletic positioning.

• Court-length sprints: Short bursts of high-intensity running with planned recovery.

• Repeated sprint training: Multiple short sprints with incomplete recovery to simulate game demands.

Start with shorter intervals and adequate recovery. Gradually increase the number of repetitions and reduce recovery time as conditioning improves.

The goal is not simply to run farther. It is to develop the ability to repeatedly perform high-intensity movements throughout a game.

2. Develop Lower-Body Strength and Stability

Basketball players need more than strong legs. They need the ability to control their bodies during acceleration, deceleration, jumping, landing, and changes of direction. Strength training should include the hips, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and core.

Why is this important?

The hips and trunk help control lower-extremity positioning. The quadriceps and hamstrings contribute to knee stability and force production. The calf muscles and ankle complex help absorb and generate force during running and jumping.

Weakness, poor coordination, or inadequate control in these areas can make it more difficult to manage the repetitive demands of basketball.

Exercises to incorporate into preseason training:

• Squats and split squats

• Reverse lunges

• Single-leg Romanian deadlifts

• Glute bridges and hip thrusts

• Calf raises (both straight-knee and bent-knee)

• Hamstring strengthening

• Planks and side planks

• Single-leg balance and stability exercises

Don't overlook single-leg strength. Basketball is filled with movements where athletes accelerate, decelerate, jump, and land on one leg or transition quickly from one leg to the other.

Training both legs independently can help identify and address differences in strength, balance, and control.

3. Jumping and Landing Mechanics: Protect Your Knees and Ankles

Jumping is an essential part of basketball. Rebounding, shooting, blocking, and layups all require repeated jumping and landing.

However, the landing phase is just as important as the jump itself.

Every time an athlete lands, the body must absorb and distribute force through the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and trunk.

When athletes repeatedly land with poor mechanics, or when their bodies are not prepared to tolerate the workload, the knees and ankles can experience excessive stress.

Common landing faults to watch for:

• Knees collapsing inward during landing (dynamic knee valgus).

• Landing with stiff knees and minimal hip or knee flexion.

• Poor trunk control or excessive forward/lateral movement.

• Excessive weight shifting to one leg.

• Poor foot and ankle control.

• Difficulty maintaining balance after landing.

These movement patterns can become more problematic when athletes are fatigued or performing repeated jumps.

Why are we concerned about knee injuries?

Basketball players are exposed to repeated jumping, cutting, and rapid changes in direction. These movements place significant demands on the knee, including the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Both boys and girls need to develop proper landing mechanics. However, female athletes have a higher overall risk of non-contact ACL injury than male athletes in many comparable sports. This makes neuromuscular training particularly important for girls' basketball players.

This does not mean boys are exempt. ACL injuries, patellofemoral pain, patellar tendinopathy (jumper's knee), and other overuse injuries can affect athletes of both sexes.

How do we improve landing mechanics?

Landing mechanics should be trained progressively, beginning with basic control before advancing to more demanding jumping activities.

Start with:

• Double-leg jump and stick (land and hold).

• Single-leg balance and controlled landing.

• Squat jumps with controlled landings.

• Forward and lateral hop-and-hold exercises.

• Box jumps with controlled landings.

• Repeated jumping and rebounding drills.

Teach athletes to:

• Land quietly rather than stiffly.

• Bend through the hips and knees to absorb force.

• Keep the knees aligned with the feet.

• Maintain control of the trunk.

• Distribute weight appropriately through the feet.

• Maintain balance before moving into the next repetition.

Remember: Jumping higher is only part of the equation. Athletes must also learn how to land safely and repeatedly.

4. Improve Ankle Mobility, Strength, and Stability

Ankle injuries are among the most common injuries in basketball. A player can easily roll an ankle while landing on another player's foot, changing direction, or attempting to recover balance.

But ankle injury prevention should not start after an ankle sprain occurs.

Athletes need adequate ankle mobility, strength, balance, and neuromuscular control to handle the demands of the game.

Areas to address include:

• Ankle dorsiflexion mobility: The ability of the knee to move forward over the foot.

• Calf strength and endurance.

• Peroneal muscle strength, which helps control the outside of the ankle.

• Single-leg balance.

• Foot strength and control.

• Dynamic stability during hopping, cutting, and landing.

Previous ankle sprains are particularly important. An athlete who returns to basketball without restoring strength, balance, and functional stability may be at greater risk of another sprain.

Consider incorporating single-leg balance, calf raises, resisted ankle exercises, multidirectional hopping, and controlled cutting drills. For athletes with a history of recurrent ankle sprains, a properly fitted lace-up ankle brace may also be worth discussing with their healthcare provider or athletic trainer.

5. Don't Forget Progressive Workload and Recovery is for Basketball Players too

One of the most important components of preseason preparation is gradually increasing the amount of work your body performs.

An athlete may have the strength to perform a jump or sprint, but that does not automatically mean the body is ready to tolerate hundreds of repetitions during a practice or several games in one weekend.

This is where workload management becomes important.

Avoid doing too much too soon.

If an athlete has spent much of the summer participating in other activities or has taken time away from basketball, jumping immediately into multiple hours of practice can create an abrupt increase in physical stress.

Pay attention to:

• Total practice and game time.

• Number of high-intensity running and jumping sessions.

• Tournament schedules and multiple games in one day.

• Changes in training intensity.

• Muscle soreness and recovery between sessions.

• Previous injuries and ongoing symptoms.

Recovery is part of training, not time wasted away from training.

Adequate sleep, nutrition, hydration, and planned rest days help athletes adapt to increasing workloads.

The NBA and USA Basketball youth guidelines also emphasize the importance of regular rest from organized basketball and avoiding excessive competition schedules.

A Basketball Preseason Injury Prevention Warm-Up

One of the easiest ways to incorporate injury prevention into basketball training is to make it part of the regular warm-up. Research supports neuromuscular warm-up programs that combine strength, balance, mobility, agility, and jumping/landing exercises. A good warm-up should prepare the athlete for the movements they will perform during practice.

Example 15–20 Minute Basketball Warm-Up:

Exercise	Focus
Light jogging and dynamic mobility	Increase body temperature
Walking lunges	Hip and lower-body mobility
Squats	Lower-body strength and control
Single-leg balance	Ankle stability
Calf raises	Calf and ankle strength
Lateral defensive slides	Lateral movement and control
Double-leg jump and stick	Landing mechanics
Single-leg hop and hold	Single-leg stability
Acceleration and deceleration drills	Game-specific movement

Exercises should be performed with appropriate technique and progressed according to the athlete's age, training experience, and physical abilities.

Importantly, injury prevention exercises should not be reserved for the preseason. Continue incorporating them into warm-ups throughout the basketball season.

Boys and Girls Basketball: Individualize Your Preparation

Although the physical demands of basketball are similar for boys and girls, athletes may have different strength, mobility, coordination, and movement-control needs.

Female basketball players have a higher incidence of ACL injuries in many comparable athletic populations. Training should place particular emphasis on lower-extremity strength, hip and trunk control, balance, and jumping and landing mechanics.

Male basketball players also experience significant knee and ankle injuries, along with overuse conditions associated with repetitive jumping and rapid increases in training volume.

For both boys and girls, the goal is to identify individual limitations rather than assume every athlete needs the same program. An athlete with limited ankle mobility, poor single-leg control, or a history of knee pain may require a different preparation program than an athlete who demonstrates good strength and movement control.

Don't Wait Until an Injury Happens to Evaluate Your Athlete

Preseason is an excellent opportunity to identify movement limitations, strength deficits, mobility restrictions, and areas of poor stability before the demands of competition increase.

A comprehensive movement assessment can help identify:

• Differences in single-leg strength and balance.

• Limited hip or ankle mobility.

• Poor jumping and landing mechanics.

• Lower-extremity strength deficits.

• Core and trunk stability limitations.

• Movement patterns that may contribute to excessive joint loading.

At Athletic Edge & Wellness, we believe that injury prevention and athletic performance go hand in hand. Our individualized approach looks beyond the area of pain to evaluate how the entire body moves. By identifying mobility restrictions, strength deficits, and movement-control limitations, we can develop a plan to help athletes move better, improve performance, and better tolerate the physical demands of their sport.

Prepare Now. Perform Better All Season.

Don't wait until knee pain, an ankle sprain, or another injury takes you off the court. Whether you are a basketball player preparing for your first season or an experienced athlete looking to improve your performance, the right preparation can make a difference.

Athletic Edge & Wellness – Physical Therapy & Sports Performance

Algonquin, IL 📞 224-505-3343

Ready to prepare for basketball season? Schedule an evaluation to identify areas for improvement and develop an individualized plan to help you stay healthy and perform your best.

Move Better. Perform Better. Be Better.