By Mike Kozak
If you look at the movements involved in sports such as volleyball, football and basketball, you will find that athletes are required to jump, land and react continuously throughout the game. Sometimes you have to jump, land and then sprint. Sometimes you have to shuffle, jump and then shuffle again. I think you get the idea. Taking this into consideration, I have started to incorporate what I call “Combo Plyos” into my programs for advanced athletes. This doesn’t mean that I have abandoned speed drills or traditional plyometrics. I just like to mix a couple sets of these in during a power phase to keep training fresh.
1. Hurdle Combo ( 3 six inch hurdles and 2 twelve inch hurdles)
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Set the hurdles in a line about 2 feet apart with the 12 inch hurdles on each end and the 6 inch hurdles in the middle. To start, the athlete will have their shoulders perpendicular to the first 12 inch hurdle. They will start the drill by explosively jumping laterally over the first 12 inch hurdle. Immediately upon landing, the athlete will perform a lateral high knee chop over the 3 six inch hurdles. The athlete will then gather themselves, explosively jump over the last 12 inch hurdle and then immediately back over. They will then chop back over the six inch hurdles and perform the jumps at the end. Have your athletes perform 2 – 3 sets of going down and back twice over the hurdles. The focus should be landing soft on the big jumps, moving from speed to power quickly and vice versa and maintaining body control.
2. 5 point jump (5 cones)
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Set up one cone in the middle and one cone 3 yards to the left and right of the middle cone and one cone 3 yards to the front and back of the middle cone. Starting at the middle cone, the athlete will jump up explosively, land and shuffle to the right cone. At the right cone, they will jump; land and shuffle back the center, jump, and backpedal to the cone behind them. At the back cone, they will jump, land and sprint back to the middle. Continue the drill until the athlete has performed a jump at each cone and has returned to the middle. Do one set moving clockwise and one set counter clockwise.
3. Depth jump combo (plyo box, adjustable hurdle)
Set up a 12 – 18 inch box with an adjustable hurdle about 1 yard in front of it on a sprint track. The athlete will drop off of the box, quickly land and jump over the hurdle, land on two feet and explode into a 5 yard sprint. The key to this drill is being quick off the ground on the jump and then transitioning into the sprint quickly. Cue your athletes to lean and push upon landing. Perform 2 sets of 4 – 6 reps.
4. Rim jump combo (basketball hoop) Stand on the left side of a hoop, just in front of the backboard. Jump up and reach for the board, land and push off of the left foot to explode to the right side of the hoop. As soon as the athlete is on the right side, they should jump for the backboard, land and push off the right foot to explode back to the left. Continue this until they have performed 5 – 6 jumps on each side of the hoop.
Mike Kozak is the co – owner of the Soar of Columbus Fitness Systems in Central OH. For more information on his products and services, check out www.soarofcolumbus.com or www.strengthprogrambuilder.com.