Improve Your Basketball with Weight Training

Long, lean, quick and strong is a good prescription for the physical characteristics of quality basketball players. You need to be able to move up and down the court quickly, muscle the competition off the ball when appropriate and of course be long in height and, or, have the ability to jump high vertically. At least 30 inches would be nice! But don't panic; training can help. It may not make you a Vince Carter or a Michael Jordan, but various training techniques including weight training should help.

Strength development will be important for all players. Some will benefit more from bulking up and others from speed and agility.

I've put together a basketball weight training program starting with an early-season build-up right through to the closed season.

• Weight Training for Basketball

Image: Getty Images. Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs lays the ball up over LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One of the 2007 NBA Finals on June 7.