Athletes Don't Lay on the Couch

The more you read or hear about high level athletes, the more impressed you become with their tremendous work ethics and self-discipline. Larry Bird would go to the top of the Boston Garden and runs several miles after practice “to keep in shape.” There are legendary stories of Kobe Bryant’s individual workouts. More recently there are fascinating stories about the workouts of Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu.

Great athletes not only work on the skills of their sport. Great athletes also work on trying to become better athletes. They work on their strength and their conditioning. Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, and Sabrina Ionescu were each great practice players. But what separated them from the pack was what they did on their own. They each became great by creating their own workouts. 

Sadly in our present situation, young athletes cannot turn to their usual methods for self-improvement. There are no open gyms, there are no skill sessions with a trainer, there are no AAU practices or games, there are no organized weight sessions or conditioning programs.

Young athletes must find ways to work on their skills, work on their strength, and work on their fitness- ON THEIR OWN. You are not going to an athlete laying on the couch. Some basic things to consider:

1-    Your priority should be your health and your family’s health. Follow your parent’s guidance and rules regarding social distancing.

2-     Basketball is a game where you can work on the skills of the game by yourself. If you are shooting at your hoop or a neighbor’s hoop- you do not need anyone else- and right now you should not have a non-family member. Shooting at a public hoop is not advised.

3-    If you don’t have access to a hoop, you can still work to improve your ballhandling skills. There a million great ballhandling drills on the internet.

4-    You need to find ways to improve your strength and your conditioning.

5-    We don’t know how long our present situation will continue. You can’t sit around for a month or two months, and then think you will magically still be a good athlete. You must work at it now.

6-    You know how much you sweat and what your level of fatigue is when you get done with Streaks Camp, when you get done with Summer League Game, when you get done with in-season practice, when you get done scrimmaging in open gym. A minimum of 3-4 times per week, you need to be doing things that make you feel that level of fatigue. You must push yourself.  

Here are some simple ideas for working on your strength and conditioning.

Home Strength Training Workout

·      10 pushups

·      10 squat jumps

·      Front Plank- 10 swims with each arm

·      10 Pushups

·      10 Lunges

·      Side Planks (each side) 10 hip touches

Repeat these 6 exercises 3 times

8 X 8- Timed (Time Yourself)

·      8 Mikan- makes

·      8 Right Block- makes

·      8 Right VB line- makes

·      8 Right Elbows- makes

·      8 Left Elbows- makes

·      8 Left VB lines- makes

·      8 Left Block- makes

·      8 Mikan- makes

Timed Runs

·      Timed Mile- measure with car (or just calculate a distance that takes 6 minutes to run, then time to see if can do it faster each time)

·      Timed ½ Mile- measure with car (or just calculate a distance that takes 3 minutes to run, then time to see if can do it faster each time)

Sprints

·      Figure distance that takes about 15-20 seconds to sprint. Then sprint it, rest about 1 minute, then repeat. Do this 6-8 times.)

Alford Shooting

·      Pick a spot to shoot 20 shots from

·      Shoot, run to get rebound, toss ball out to the spot, run to it, shoot again

·      Shoot 20 shots

·      Then shoot 10 ft's

·      Repeat until get 200 shots

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