Youth Inc. Recommends: Five Resources to Help You Train Speed for Basketball

Speed in basketball isn’t just about straight-line sprinting — it’s lateral movement, reaction time, explosiveness off the first step, and efficient footwork. These five resources deliver drills, workouts, and biomechanics tips to help you move quicker, cut faster, and explode past defenders.

How to Increase Your Lateral Quickness & Agility

What it is: A focused agility workout for basketball players, featuring five lateral drills: push to base, lateral shuffle, crossover acceleration, low box shuffle, and 1-2 crossover & stick. 

Why we like it: It’s all about defense and direction change. The drills emphasize control and reaction — not just speed — which is what actually wins games on both ends. 

Quickness, Explosiveness, First Step Speed Drills

What it is: A full workout circuit that blends plyometrics and footwork: lime tops, low barrier hops, stationary scissor steps, pogo hops, single-leg line hops, and more. 

Why we like it: It’s an intense, dynamic workout — perfect for players looking to improve their first step and shift gears quickly in small spaces.

Best Speed Drills for Basketball in the Gym

What it is: A gym-focused speed session covering “transient speed” — quick acceleration and deceleration — using pogo hops, coast-to-coasts, and lateral power skips. 

Why we like it: This is for players who want to train like athletes, not just hoopers. The concepts here are built around real physics and movement science.

9 Hip Flexor Drills

What it is: A hip-focused routine for improving the muscles that drive sprinting, lateral movement, and quick changes of direction. 

Why we like it: Speed starts in the hips. These drills are gold for building functional strength and mobility — especially for players with stiff movement patterns or nagging hip tightness. 

Lateral Power Drill

What it is: A single power movement drill designed to train lateral force production — with a focus on pushing off the ground instead of reaching. 

Why we like it: It’s clean, simple, and extremely effective. Whether you're trying to improve your slide on defense or explode into a crossover, this helps build the kind of power that shows up in-game.