Now What?

So your season is over and the question that comes up is, "what do I do now?"

The immediate answer is NOTHING! A basketball season is long and grueling and your body needs time to rest. You don't have to rest completely, as in not get off the couch other than to go to the fridge and school, but ease off of the basketball for two weeks. Ever notice how after you take a couple weeks off from everyday practice and games and you go back to the gym and you can jump a little higher? Your body is fully recovered when you or others are surprised at how athletic you've become from resting.

So now that your rest is out of the way, you gotta jump right back on it. The off-season is a time for making yourself into a player. Adding elements to your game, becoming a better shooter from a certain distance, working on your weak hand and becoming a stronger all-around player is the goal of the off-season.

Another important aspect is strength training. One thing I hear a lot of younger athletes say is that they found a workout on a website that (insert NBA All-Star here) did during his off-season and thats what they are going to use. This may seem like a good idea, but its not. Pro athletes are a special breed of human being. You need a plan for YOU, that can make YOU a stronger athlete, that can make YOU a better basketball player.

Some quick tips to get you started:
- focus on quality of movement - make sure you don't have anything hindering your movement patterns before you start lifting weights. If you do, you can create or make any imbalances worse and also begin creating microtrauma, the last thing you want during the off-season.
- move your bodyweight - if you don't have a lot of experience in a weight room, work on moving your body first. Pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, dips and all of their variations are a great start. Be great at these before using external loads.
- play basketball - I can't stress this enough and it may sound silly but its the truth. During the off-season you have to play a ton of basketball to make yourself a better player. Strength training can help you on the court, but it will not help you if you aren't also playing basketball every day. You need to use your newly created strength against other players who are better than you constantly. Not once in a while, not once a week, DAILY!

I was just reminded of how people become succesful at a career or a task while I listened to the radio a couple hours ago. The host mentioned the 10,000 hour rule. It takes 10,000 hours to become great at what you do. Do you want to become a great basketball player? Start logging those hours.

Any questions or comments, be sure to post on the new fb page!