Basketball Footwork Drills With Tennis Balls

Basketball players and tennis athletes have more in common than you might initially think: each needs good footwork to be effective and can use a similar method to improve it. Side shuffles, quick starts and stops, and backpedals are an important part of the basketball and tennis athlete's footwork arsenal. Footwork skills such as agility and deceleration can be improved by utilizing one simple piece of equipment: the tennis ball.

Agility

Agility is perhaps the most important aspect of footwork for any sport, particularly one like basketball that requires lots of quick movements. Agility is defined as the ability to change directions. Basketball players who are agile effectively place themselves a step ahead of their opponents. One very effective agility drill that you can perform with tennis balls is a variation of the cone weave. Here, instead of using cones -- which can be expensive -- you use tennis balls. Place six or seven tennis balls in a line with about three feet between each ball. Now you can perform a weave between the balls in a variety of directional patterns, including straight-ahead, side-shuffle and backpedal.

Side-Shuffle

According to a research study conducted by the Australian National Basketball League, side-shuffling is the most often used footwork pattern in basketball. So improving this skill will go a long way to improving your game. Tennis balls can be used in a drill called ball rolls. This drill entails having a partner or trainer stand in front of you holding two tennis balls, one in each hand. Your starting position is in a low defensive crouch position facing your training partner. Your partner rolls one tennis ball at a time, alternating left and right, as you side-shuffle left to right retrieving and rolling them back to your partner. Perform this drill for a set number of rolls and you'll not only improve your footwork but your conditioning as well.

Acceleration and Deceleration

Using tennis balls to perform this drill, known as suicides, can help you improve two important basketball skills: your ability to accelerate and decelerate. There's little doubt that by improving your ability to start quickly you can make yourself a quicker athlete, but an equally or perhaps more important skill, deceleration, also will make you a more effective athlete. Having the skill to bring yourself under control allows you to effectively perform a basketball skill such as a lay-up. Without proper deceleration you could miss the lay-up, create a foul or even worse, get injured.

A tennis ball drill that can be used to improve both of these important footwork skills is the tennis ball suicide. Place a series of tennis balls -- four or five -- in a straight line approximately six feet apart. Start this drill by sprinting to pick up each ball one at a time, closest to farthest. As you approach a ball to pick it up, slow down and bring yourself under control so that you can bend and pick the ball up without coming to a complete stop.

Balance

You can improve your balance while at the same time challenging your hand-eye coordination by performing an exercise called the stork stand. Stand on a single leg facing a partner. Your partner will toss a tennis ball to you to catch, varying the height and location of the toss.