Unanticipated (reactionary) movements are a huge part of basketball, whether it be playing defense, offense or grabbing a rebound.

In early drills like these it helps athletes regain confidence in being able to safely perform unanticipated movements. Being quick and agile on court is influenced by being able to react quickly to various cues provided by various cues, including: Visual (sight) Auditory (sound) Tactile (touch)

In this video:

1) Lateral Lunges + Catch Dowel

The stick is dropped to the side of the athlete, who steps into a lateral lunge to catch the stick, quickly pushing it back and returning to the athletic stance position. To progress this exercise, have the stick dropped out wider, increasing the size of the lunge and demand on the trunk and upper limb reach.

2) Lateral Slide with Hip Taps

The coach or therapist stands behind the athlete, and taps either their left or right hip. Alternatively tap the athletes shoulder or elbow. The athlete then quickly performs two slides to the side, deceleerates, changes direction and slides back to the start position. Focus needs to be on trunk and hip position whilst changing direction, as well as foot placement and lower limb alignment.

Both exercises require the athlete to be proficient in lateral lunges, and for the second exercise shown the ability to perform lateral slides with planned direction change. Don’t introduce reactionary drills until planned movements have been nailed!