October 27, 2022 | Tagged Skills,
Best Ways to Prepare for Basketball Season
Basketball season is just around the corner and now is the time to be committed to preparing for the season. You want to walk in the first day to make a strong impression on your team and on your coaches. Here are the best ways to come in prepared for the first day of practice.
Take this important self-test to see if you are ready:
Rate your physical fitness level.
The most obvious indication of basketball season preparedness is your level of physical fitness. Basketball is a physically demanding game and quickly exposes deficits in your strength, cardio, and performance capabilities.
How fast can you run a mile ?_____
How many push-ups can you do accurately without fatiguing? ____
How fast can your run a 500 m? ___
How many pull-ups can you do? ____
How long can you accurately hold yourself in plank position? ____
How many accurate body weight squats can you do? ____
Rate your fundamental skills and athletic movements.
Both hands should be fluid with the ball. You should be able to navigate the ball without having to concentrate on the movement. Your mind should be free for higher level processing. Are you fundamentally sound? The best way to observe this is to take videos of yourself practicing. Are you in athletic position? Are you hunched over the ball or are you down in the correct stance? Is your back rounded and hunched or is it straight and strong? Take care of the ball (TCOB) is the first objective of the great player. If the ball is a liability in your hands, you ruin your opportunity to contribute.
Rate your shooting.
What are your percentages from different spots on the court? Game shots, from game spots at game speed is the evaluation expectation. Percentages do not lie.
Rate your resiliency and grit.
Look back over your life. Do you tend to be injured a lot? Do you tend to quit what you start? Do you see or notice a pattern of blaming coaches or falling out of connection with key coaches or advisors? Grit and resiliency are the best safeguard to navigating the long basketball season with courage and success.
Here are a few pointers from elite athletes preparing for the Olympics.
Learn from the elite on the best way to prepare for the season.
Set goals. The discipline to create, set and reach goals is the number one tool of the Olympic athlete. Are your goals written down, charted and accounted for? Yes or No
Cross train. The body will be more susceptible to injury if you maintain the same training routine. Change your daily workouts to include overall body conditioning that allow your body to rest as well as work areas that are weaker. Swim, bike or play lacrosse. Add variety to your training. Do you include cross training in your workout routine? Yes or No
Prepare your body for success through water, rest, nutrition and wise life choices and habits.
Do you have healthy life habits? Yes or No
Stay flexible both mentally and physically. Flexibility is one of the most important indicators of physical and life health. Are you physically flexible? Y or N
Do you have a flexible personality? Y or N
Shock or challenge your body especially at the end of a hard workout. Most of us simply do not work hard enough to create change in our lives. The body gravitates strongly to the easiest path. Doing one more sprint rep after you are exhausted, pushing yourself one step further helps your body overcome plateaus in your performance.
Do you shock your body or challenge it to do more than you think you can do each week? Y or N
Be mentally tough. A mentally tough person isn’t plagued by their thinking. They have control over their thoughts and emotions.
Does every thought you think help you be a better player and person? Y or N
NBC Basketball wants you to step on the court ready to give your best this basketball season. Take each day to do your very best to become stronger, faster, more wise and ready to dominate this season.
NBC Camps offers an intensive fall basketball training program to help prepare you for your season. Get a great workout, interact with coaches who can help hold you accountable as well as push you to improve and be ready to step on the court ready to play. Find out more at www.nbccamps.com/va.
About NBC Basketball
NBC Basketball has been running camps and basketball training programs since 1971. NBC stands for Nothing beats commitment and the philosophy that a person's daily habits reveal his or her future. NBC Basketball offers intensive skill and leadership training at camps, academies, clinics, team camps, travel teams, and more. For more information visit www.nbccamps.com/basketball