Coaches, use this program, broken down day by day to get your players into peak condition before your first game.  Players, get a head start by implementing these strategies into your summer workout.

In the upcoming pre-season I hope to try and improve our team’s conditioning by using some drills that I did while I was a player at Marshall University in Huntington, WV.  I would like to do a series of conditioning/weightlifting drills on Monday and Friday and another series on Tuesday and Thursday, with Wednesday as a day off.

Strength training is very important in the pre-season as well as during the season as it gets your players stronger in body and allows them to compete at a higher level and not wear down as much physically as teams that have no weight training schedule.  During the season the workouts should be “short and sweet” with no max outs, just a “toning” and training of the muscles.  Make sure all of your players have time to relax (rest) after weight training, as it allows the muscles time to rest, recover, and grow!!!

In basketball, like in all sports, there are specific skills one must possess to perform at the optimal level and achieve success in the game. Guards should be able to perform numerous tasks on the court with and without the ball. Posts, on the other hand, have a completely different set of skills that they need to master in order to be successful at the professional level.  

ALL PLAYERS

All players should contest every shot and understand the 2 man game by eye contact. When making cuts you must use finesse cuts along with power cuts to keep the defense off-balance. A good player will get to the foul line at least once every 7 minutes.  Don’t be afraid to be physical, a referee can’t call every foul. Finally, when you go to the gym to work on your basketball game , don’t “workout,” work until you pass out. If you can follow these guidelines and strengthen your game in the areas specified, your game will rise to a new level. If you can work on the specified skills for your position and tune some of your basic skills to compliment your arsenal, then the sky will be the limit.