If you closely examine the technique involved in execution of the lower body movements made by athletes in a variety of sports, you can see that they are very similar to the movements executed in running and running cutting actions. With, and even without, slight modifications in specialized strength and explosive running exercises, it is possible to duplicate the exact movements seen in other sports.
For example, most of the movements in hockey, football, soccer, lacrosse, tennis and basketball, come from the hips, not only in straight line running but also when executing lateral movements and mixed movements in various cutting actions. These athletes execute combinations of hip flexion, hip abduction, hip abduction and hip extension, especially in repetitive (cyclic) actions.
Because of this, athletes can do some of the same exercises regardless of sport. By doing specialized strength and explosive exercises for specific movements originating in the hip joint, these athletes can improve their performance on the field, ring or court greatly. Some athletes will get benefit from general exercises but the greatest improvement will come from specialized exercises that duplicate the exact actions.
For example, if you do the basic hip abduction, adduction, flexion and extension strength exercises in both the left and right hip joints, you get greater strength of all the hip joint muscles. The general strength is a great base upon which it is possible to do more specific exercises and get even better results.
An example of a specialized strength exercise to strengthen the hip joint flexor muscles, is the knee drive which duplicates the action of driving the thigh forward during the pushoff. This exercise is best done with Active Cords that makes it possible to duplicate the thigh movement. In addition, it also provides opportunities for slight changes in direction as often needed in team sports.
Because most team sports require a considerable amount of side or lateral movement, the side lunge and variants of the side lunge with Active cords are also applicable. With the cords it is possible to adjust the direction of the lunge or other exercise, to more closely duplicate the movements that the player must execute.
Strengthening of the knee joint and the muscles involved in extending the leg as seen during the pushoff and other movements can also utilize some of the same exercises as used in running. This means doing the squat, preferably with a barbell, and leg extensions to strengthen the vasti quadriceps muscles that are responsible for keeping the patella in its groove.
The above-mentioned exercises can make a world of difference in the movement performance of team sport players. When the exercises are done in a more explosive manner they can increase the players speed, quickness and acceleration more than most other exercises.
For information on how these exercises can be executed, see the second edition of Explosive Running.