by Jeremy Hartman 06-26-2009 09:19 PM
Being a varsity girls’ basketball coach as well as a strength and conditioning coach and skill development trainer, I usually hear some interesting things when it comes to off-season conditioning and training. The biggest issue seems to come with a generation that wants what they want when they want it. In other words, they want the improvement and skills without putting in the work. I’m sorry to break the news to you, but it just doesn’t work that way when it comes to training. However, I do advise my athletes (and their parents) that training the RIGHT way will lead to improvement.
When training and working with my athletes and players, I focus more on quality rather than quantity. I can still remember being a 15-year old at a basketball camp in Pennsylvania and hearing the coaches tell the entire camp that it is better to go to the gym and work hard for 15 minutes rather than go to gym and fool around for an hour. That became my mantra growing up and it still applies today.
In developing my training programs for clients and determining my practice plans for my team, I focus on what we want to accomplish and set specific times and guidelines for each aspect. Many coaches believe that you keep at something until the team “gets it” regardless of how much practice time it takes. That’s not a wise use of time. You only have a certain amount of time to practice with a team before you compete and those precious minutes need to be spent specifically. It may seem great that you spent 45 minutes on your offensive sets until the players finally understood them, but you had to skip over other important aspects to do that. Yes, it could be comforting to know that in two days at our first game we’ll be prepared to play offensively, but if we’re lost on defense, then we will probably give up more points than we score.
Develop a plan and stick to it. Be specific in the time spent on each aspect. When the time has elapsed, then move on. Boredom is the number one killer of workouts, so switch drills at proper intervals or increase the difficulty to counter the mental zone outs.
Another issue I frequently run into is athletes just jumping directly into a high-level exercise or drills. That is the quickest way to get frustrated…and hurt! I have come into contact with so many parents and athletes that have seen a training video or read some material on a new drill and then they try to complete the drill right away. Unless you are just that physically gifted, then it’s probably not going to go smoothly. I use a progression method of teaching. For example, when conducting a plyometrics workout with an athlete for the first time, I’m not going to throw them directly into depth jumps or box jumps. The likelihood of the athlete hurting himself is greater, especially if he has never done any type of plyometric training. We work our way gradually toward the higher level exercises. We start with low level exercises like tuck jumps and then build our base before moving toward box jumps. Using this method helps prevent injuries and allows the athlete to develop naturally. It also gives a trainer or coach the opportunity to address any technical issues such as form or footwork.
I also use the progression method when conducting basketball skill development training. There are so many drills out there for developing your basketball game, but it is my belief that those drills should be applied in the proper manner. If I make a client do a drill that requires her to dribble two basketballs at the same time, but she doesn’t handle one ball well enough to do two, then it becomes frustrating for her. It could decrease her desire to train and eventually lead to self-esteem issues. She could end up being afraid to make a mistake. An athlete cannot improve if he/she is afraid to make a mistake. You will never push yourself out of your comfort zone to get better. It is my job then to make sure she progresses at a natural rate; so we start with ball handling drills that utilize one basketball. When she has mastered most of those drills, then we can move on and add a second basketball or a tennis ball or medicine ball possibly. By following this method of progression, the drills stay fresh and the athlete stays mentally focused because the improvement can be physically seen.
Another method of progression I like to use is when teaching a new drill or skill for the first time. When introducing the drill, I start slowly focusing on technique and footwork. I will have the athlete walk through the drill a couple of times. Once the technique is sufficient, we then add speed to the movement, progressing until game-speed is reached. Most people would stop at that point, but I like to make clients go at a speed FASTER than game-speed while still keeping their form. I do this to get them out of a comfort zone and to make them focus. It allows the practice session to become harder, which in turn makes the real game easier.
The last topic I want to touch on is specificity. A coach or trainer should make the situation or training session as game-specific as possible. This keeps the athlete mentally involved because he can actually see that the drill is relevant to a game situation. This also requires a coach to communicate. Many times an athlete loses interest in training because the coach or trainer hasn’t done an adequate job in explaining how the exercise is relevant to the athlete’s particular sport. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box. The traditional exercises are great, but most of them only require an athlete to perform one type of movement, which is usually a static or in-place movement. This is not specific to sports. How often in sports do you find yourself just doing one movement in place several times in a row? Not often, if at all. So as the drills become dynamic - requiring movements of several body parts in quick changes of direction at one time - then they increasingly become more relevant. Basketball, for example, is a game in which a player has to think and act quickly, so the drills we train with should require an athlete to do the same thing. If you cannot involve the mental aspect, then training is monotonous and repetitive. Make the athletes think AND move. That’s real situation training.
So to finish up, when training you must train hard, train smart, and progress naturally and logically while maintaining a specificity to your respective sport and situation. By following these guidelines, you can train efficiently and effectively. All it takes is Discipline, Dedication, and Determination…that’s the 3DS way!
Feel free to contact me at jhartman@3dssportsperformance.com if you have any questions. I would be more than willing to help and you can check me out at www.3dssportsperformance.com!
Published 06-26-2009 © 2026 Access Athletes, LLC
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