Early Off-Season Training For Basketball Players – Skill Development Is King
April 17, 2012 by danny · 4 Comments
I’ll let the video below provide the majority of the information. But briefly…
Quite often athletes get too caught up in, “harder is better.” i.e. “if I don’t put in 3 hours on the court working on my game, I’m not going to be the best player that I can be.” OR, “if I don’t leave the court feeling like I’m about to puke, I didn’t go hard enough.”
I like this mindset, as I know you are thinking, “I’ll do WHATEVER it takes to be the best player that I can be.” BUT, there are many aspects of your game that help you to become a great player – skill, heart, discipline, conditioning, strength, staying healthy, coachability, etc. etc. And let me tell you, right now in mid-April, conditioning is NOT very important. I’m obviously not saying that you should sit on the couch all day eating doritos and turn into a slob. But when you head to the gym to work on your game, emphasize skill development. Conditioning will become a higher priority as tryouts in October approaches. But for now, focus on improving your skeelz! And oh yeah, get in the weight room, will ya. Check out the video below as I go over two very important factors in getting the most out of your game: Efficiency and the “hierarchy” of off-season training for basketball.
Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments section below…
Now, go get in the gym and work on those handles, your pull-up J, and work to expand the range on your shot. And remember, do everything with a purpose! For every dribble, every shot, and every move, I want you to visualize that you are being guarded by the best defender in your conference. Go get it!
About danny
Good stuff. I really like the “hierarchy” of off-season training. I have two linemen that I have been working with over the past three months on skills training. We have been emphasizing technique and strength and really talking about why steps, hand placement, punch, body postion, etc. are so important. Now, as we move closer to summer I am trying to gradually increase the pace of our sessions so that as the season approached they are still working the skills but also improving their conditioning. It’s much easier to get kids to bust their butt in drill work than it is to convince them to run 300 yard shuttles or timed 40s. It’s more fun too.
Thanks, Steve.
Yep, it’s important for coaches/athletes to realize that we don’t need to “be on top” of every aspect of our game 24/7/365. Attempting to do so would lead to subpar results and most likely increase the chance of injury/burnout.
Keep up the good work!
Danny
Doing everything with a purpose is so important and was always the hardest part for me when I played ball. It’s so easy to lazily just dribble around and casually shoot!
Hey, Heather. You’re exactly right. That’s what most players do far too often… lazily just dribble around and casually shoot.
Well, now you can learn from your past mistake… make sure you go into every set in the weight room with a purpose. Kill it on every rep and think about what the results will be when you’re on the beach in a swimsuit this summer (or whatever motivates you)!
Danny