Why Basketball Agility Drills Should Focus on Improving Vertical Jump Height
New research is shedding light on the importance of improving vertical jump height in basketball. Backed by data, these findings are an eye-opener for coaches because researchers say jump height can positively affect other facets of a player’s game.
The study titled “Vertical Jump and Relative Strength are Strongly Associated with Change of Direction in Professional Male Basketball Players,” led by Professor Stefano Benitez Flores, involved eight professional male basketball players with an average age of 24 years and a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 24.1 kg/m².
Professor Flores and his team of researchers conducted a series of tests over two days to assess the players’ physical attributes and their correlation with change of direction (COD) performance.
Save Time with Intuitive Software that Counts, Tracks, and Analyzes All Shots—No Wearables Needed
On the first day, players’ body composition, squat jumps (unilateral and bilateral), and countermovement jumps were measured. They also took the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (Level 1) to assess fitness and recovery.
On the second day, their change of direction performance and one repetition maximum for hang clean and bench press were evaluated. These exercises are standard in basketball strength and conditioning programs.
The researchers used linear regression to identify significant predictors of change of direction (COD) performance. They found that squat jump (SJ) height was the only significant determinant, explaining 58.8% of the variability in COD performance.
Additionally, change of direction performance correlated significantly with SJ height (r = ‑0.75, p = 0.034) and relative hang clean (HC) 1RM (r = ‑0.74, p = 0.038). These results indicate a strong association between a player’s vertical jump ability, relative HC strength, and agility on the basketball court.
Implementing Basketball Agility Drills For Jump Height
The study concludes that conditioning programs for basketball players should focus on exercises that improve vertical jump height to enhance change of direction performance.
Coaches can implement basketball agility drills that include:
- Jump Squats
- Tuck Knee Jumps
- Overhead Reaching Jump
- Single-Legged Cross Jumps
- Wall Touches / Cone Taps
- Lateral Plyometric Box Jumps
- Uphill Sprints
This research offers valuable insights for coaches and trainers, highlighting the importance of improving vertical jump and relative strength to boost players’ agility and overall performance on the court.
KINEXON COMPETE Vision is the first AI-based software to automate shot tracking and analysis in practice. It provides detailed shot tracking metrics, including shot load, which accounts for what was happening during the last 10 seconds before a shot is taken.
If you would like to learn more, feel free to contact us at any time.
More stories
How Basketball Performance Data Connects the Court and Weight Room
What happens on the court shapes what athletes need in the weight room. Purdue’s Jason Kabo shares how he cross-references KINEXON performance data with sprint testing and other measures to adjust training, manage individual workloads, and guide daily decisions.
From Jump Count to a More Complete View of Volleyball Load
Jump count is one of the most familiar metrics in volleyball, but it only captures part of an athlete’s physical performance. Looking at movement intensity, like acceleration or changes of direction, and position-specific demands can provide the context needed for a more complete view of the overall load.
Limited Camps, High Demands: Preparing for International Handball Tournaments
The Women’s EHF EURO and Men’s World Championship present a similar challenge for performance staff: preparing players for an intense tournament with limited time together. How can national teams use the camps leading into competition to better understand and manage individual load?
How Drill Intensity Shapes Weekly Basketball Load Targets
Basketball coaches need more than a list of practice drills. Historical performance data and drill intensity help coaches refine practice plans, manage individual workloads and adjust the next session based on what athletes actually completed.
Sustainability: Can the Athlete Maintain Intensity Throughout the Duration of the Game?
Matching game workloads are only part of athlete preparation. Can players sustain high-intensity efforts when fatigue builds? Read more from Dayannara Munoz, KINEXON Sports Customer Success Manager, about how performance data helps coaches assess changes in output, compare practice with competition, and prepare athletes to meet the demands of the entire game.
How Individualized Football Performance Data Improves Load Management
Football performance data helps coaches move beyond team averages to individualize load management. By combining GPS metrics with each athlete’s role, historical data, and readiness, coaches can identify the right exposure, reduce excessive stress, guide recovery, and better prepare every player for game day.
Beyond the National Team Window: How the DHB Connects Performance Data
National teams spend only a fraction of the season with their athletes. See how the German Handball Federation connects club and national-team data to maintain performance context across the season and support individual decisions when players move between environments.
One Athlete, Two Jerseys: Connecting Athlete Monitoring Between Club and Country
When athletes move between club and country, their performance history moves with them. The 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup highlights why monitoring continuity matters when athletes arrive with different workloads, competition exposure and preparation behind them.
The Role of Connected Ball Technology in Modern Officiating
From ghost goals to offsides, officiating technology has steadily raised fairness in football. But the one element at the center of every decision, the ball, has until now been silent. Connected Ball Technology (CBT) changes that, giving football’s most iconic object its own voice.
COMPETE Vision on a New Level: Refined for Faster Insights
The latest COMPETE Vision update streamlines the entire performance analysis workflow, from camera setup to automated reporting. Faster uploads, improved player identification, automated court calibration, and smarter player assignment help coaches spend less time managing technology and more time turning objective data into coaching decisions.
How KINEXON Game Insights Gives Basketball Coaches the Tactical Advantage
Basketball coaches already use in-game tracking data to evaluate their athlete’s physical exposure. As more teams adopt performance tracking methodologies, that same underlying data source can extend beyond physical optimization and be utilized to compare rosters, assess opponents, and understand the demands behind each matchup.
From Data to Decisions: Six Key Takeaways from Elite Handball Performance Practitioners
Elite handball is one of the most physically demanding team sports in the world. Within sixty minutes, players sprint, decelerate, jump, throw, change direction, absorb contact, and repeat those actions under fatigue, all while making split-second tactical decisions.
From Potential to Performance: How AI, Ball & Player Tracking Are Transforming Talent Identification in Youth Football
How can AI, player and ball tracking, and expert scouting work together to identify football talent? Discover how Skillers Academy, SAP, and KINEXON Sports combine connected technologies and human expertise to create a more objective and accessible approach to youth talent identification.
How Xavier Women’s Basketball Optimizes Daily Load Targets for Low- and High-Minute Players
Optimizing daily workloads goes beyond keeping players fresh. For Xavier’s Gil Weinstein, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, daily (and weekly) performance reports helped connect practice loads to game demands, guide workload adjustments, and support 99% player availability throughout the 2025 – 26 season.
Inside Columbia Women’s Basketball’s Approach to In-Season Load Management
Managing in-season workloads takes more than tracking minutes. Performance data helps basketball coaches individualize weekly targets, adjust practice plans, and keep high-minute players, role players, and scout team athletes prepared to perform.