“Off-Season Workouts?    ….. Why should I workout?  ….. I’d rather be playing!”
   Well, if you’re a weekend warrior who’s only interest is getting together with your friends for some social hoops, then don’t read any further. But, if you’re really looking to improve your game, then individual basketball workouts can take you to the next level, regardless of where you are on the road of player development. Remember the time for Players to improve is in the Off-Season…

First, let’s establish what is NOT a basketball workout!

a. ) Games are not basketball workouts. Playing “Streetball” is not a basketball work-out!

It’s like the difference between chopping down trees and sharpening the axe that cuts down the trees. Playing basketball is chopping the trees. The basketball workout is sharpening your axe so that when you  go to cut down the trees, you do it easier and better  than the other guy.

b.) Running, jumping, lifting weights or anything else that can be called conditioning or strengthening is not a basketball workout. Although individual basketball workout should physically condition you, just physical conditioning alone is not the type of workout that I’m talking about. What you do with a ball in your hands should be considered separate from building your body. Don’t short-cut yourself by substituting one for the other. You need both!


11 KEYS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL WORKOUT:

1. Have realistic expectations. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The development of skills takes time, and improvement comes in small increments. Instead of hours and days, look at it in terms of months and years. Build your game the way the pyramids of Egypt were built: one block at a time, layer by layer.

2. Each day, earn your shower. Don't skip days. If you are concerned about your health, you wouldn’t skip days before eating healthy meals, would you? Feed your game with a daily dose of workouts. Guard it. Protect it. Give it your highest priority. Your basketball workout plans must be executed if you want to develop your game.

3. Set a time limit for your workout. This is for the sake of your conscience. When you’re finished with your workout, you’re finished. You’ve met your daily goal. Now go enjoy life. If you don’t keep a balanced life, then you won’t be able to sustain the workouts over a long period of time. That's the whole point of a basketball workout program - you do it, then you're done.

4. Make sure your individual basketball workouts imitate a real 5-on-5 game. Basketball is not a long, slow endurance marathon. It’s sprint – recover –sprint – recover – sprint – recover. Your basketball workout drills should be designed the same way.
   Drill a skill hard for 2 minutes and then rest and recover with free throws or stationary dribbling for 1 minute. Using this method, you could train 20 different skills in a 1 hour workout. And if you’re shooting free throws to recover, then you're drilling 21 different skills in that one hour.

5. Incorporate music into your workouts. For whatever reason, workouts are more enjoyable with music. Also, being able to concentrate on your game without being distracted from what you're hearing, is a skill that will imitate the crowd noise in a real game. As we all know, crowd noise only gets louder and louder at every level of the game. You should have that level of noise and intensity in your  basketball workouts.

Special Practice ... Ray Ingram

SESSION I (77 minutes)

3 Min.. Obstacle Dribble Right w/ Lay-up (C-O/T-A/B-B/S-B)

3 Min.. Obstacle Dribble Left w/ Lay-up (C-O/T-A/B-B/S-B)

5 Min.. Stretch

4 Min.. Free-Throws (20/25)

6 Min.. Tark Drill to Baseline (R)(Catch-Shoot / 1-Dribble-Shoot / 1-Dribble w/Cross-Over+Score)

6 Min.. Tark Drill to Baseline (L)(Catch-Shoot / 1-Dribble-Shoot / 1-Dribble w/Cross-Over+Score)

2 Min.. Break

5 Min.. Baseline Drive(R) w/Power..Extended..Reverse Shots (90Sec ea.)

5 Min.. Baseline Drive(L) w/Power..Extended..Slice / Reverse Shots (90Sec ea.)

5 Min.. Dribble w/T-A ...Spin...Separate and Jump-Shot or Drive ... Cross-Over + Score

5 Min.. Obstacle Dribble w/Stutter-Step and X-Over w/Drive & Shot

3 Min.. Break

4 Min.. Free-Throws (20/25)

5 Min.. Baseline "Jumpers" w/ -3 / Make 5 -/- 3 Free-Throws

5 Min.. Ten-Point Drill (w/ 3FT every 10 Points)

4 Min.. "Dribble-Out" / "Dribble-Out" and Attack

4 Min.. "Paxon" - Move

4 Min.. "MJ" Sleeper / incl. Cross-Over (L/R 2 Min.. Each)

................................................................. ....................................................................

Session I (82 minutes)5 Min.. Obstacle Dribble Right w/ Lay-up (X-Over/T-A/B-B/Shake)

5 Min.. Obstacle Dribble Left w/ Lay-up " " " " "

5 Min.. Stretch

5 Min.. Drop-Step (Right Side) (Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws)(incl. Pump-Fake)

5 Min.. Drop-Step (Left Side) (Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws) (incl. Pump-Fake)

4 Min.. Free-Throws (20/25)

5 Min.. Turn-Around Jumper (Left) Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws

5 Min.. Turn-Around Jumper (Right) Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws

5 Min.. Up-And-Under Move (Right) Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws

5 Min.. Up-And-Under Move (Left) Make 10 / Shoot 4 Free Throws

2 Min.. Break

5 Min.. Rebound / Put-Back (L/R) [5 Rebounds / 3 Free-Throws]

5 Min.. Backboard Jump-Shots (short) [Make 5 -/- 3 Free-Throws]

5 Min.. Ten-Point Drill (w/ 3 FT every 10 Points)

5 Min.. Duck-In / Spin+Pin (25 x Each from Left and Right Side)

10 Min.. Post-Read + Score (L/R) Need Passer and Defender)

.................................................................... ....................................................................

Players Should do one of the above work-outs a minimum of 3 times a week.

Perimeter Players are encouraged to do the Post Player Drills once a week,

while Post Players should do the Perimeter Work-Out once a week.Special Practice ... Ray Ingram

THIS WORKOUT IS TO BE COMPLETED EVERY OTHER DAY / ALONG WITH ONE OF THE INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL WORKOUTSIF YOUR WORK-OUT IS IN A GYM:

3 MIN. 6 LAPS TO WARM-UP

4 MIN. STRETCHING

3 MIN. 7 LAPS (15 PUSH-UPS)

-------------------------------------- 1 MIN. BREAK

30 SEC KNEES-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC HEELS-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC POWER SKIPS (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC LUNGER (10 PUSH-UPS)

2 MIN. POWER SLIDES ( 4 x .... 30 second intervals)

-------------------------------------- 1 MIN. BREAK

30 SEC SUICIDE (2)

45 SEC REST

34 SEC SUICIDE (2)

45 SEC REST

34 SEC SUICIDE (2)

45 SEC REST

3 MIN. 10 LAPS (15 PUSH-UPS)

-------------------------------------- 1 MIN. BREAK

30 SEC KNEES-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC HEELS-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC POWER SKIPS (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC LUNGER (10 PUSH-UPS)

2 MIN. POWER SLIDES ( 4 x .... 30 second intervals)

-------------------------------------- 1 MIN. BREAK

IF NO GYM IS AVAILABLE:

4 MIN. JOG to warm-Up

30 SEC KNEES-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC HEELS-UP (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC POWER SKIPS (10 PUSH-UPS)

30 SEC LUNGER (10 PUSH-UPS)

2 MIN. POWER SLIDES ( 4 x ....30 second intervals)

-------------------------------------- 1 MIN. BREAK

4 MIN. STRETCHING

9 MIN. 1600 METERS ..... followed by 2 Minute Rest

6 MIN. CIRCUIT SPRINTS { JOG 20 SEC./SPRINT 10 SEC. FOR 6 MINS.}

6. If you've got specific basketball workout plans that are scripted down to the minute, how are you going to time yourself? … Let’s get practical. Assuming that you’re by yourself, how can you time yourself during the individual basketball workout?   

Time your intervals by counting the number of shots. For example, let’s say that your first drill is something simple like 3 point shots by spinning yourself a pass and catching and shooting. Depending on how fast you can rebound your shot and get back to the 3 pt line, it might take 10, 15, or 20 shots to take up 2 minutes or 3 minutes or whatever length of time you’ve set for yourself. You’ll have to experiment a little at first, but after one workout, you’ll be able to write down the number of shots that each drill takes. Your workout might look like this: 
  20 three point shots. 5 Free Throws
  15 shot fake, one dribble, pull-up jumpers. 5 Free Throws
  10 drive, pull-up and shoot the bank shots. 5 Free Throws
  12 trips back and forth on your driveway using crossover dribbles. 5 FTs, Etc.

7. Work on both your strengths AND your weaknesses. Don't forget either. Develop an individual basketball workout plan that will work what you do best AND whatever skills you're lacking.

8. Keep a written log, like a diary, of your progress. It’s amazing what happens to your expectations when you begin to write things down. You could even start a file on your computer - consider it an online basketball workout plan.

9. Be aware of the stages of development that everyone goes through. In the first stage, you’ll be awkward and slow as you work on a new skill. The next stage is a challenge to see how many successful repetitions you can put together. The last stage is when you’re able to execute it at game speed over and over again. It’s human nature to expect yourself to jump straight to the last stage. When people expect themselves to be at stage 3 immediately, they get discouraged and quit. So, if you’re like 99.99% of the rest of us mortals, you’ll have to go through the first two stages. It’s OK, even if your a pro. It's part of having realistic expectations. Real improvement will come in time.

10. Whether you are a Pro or a beginner, construct your individual basketball workouts to include all of the fundamentals each day:
  Catch and shoot
  Shooting off the dribble
  Ball handling (speed and control)
  Passing off a wall to yourself with both hands
  Shot fake, one dribble and shoot the pull-up jumper going both right and left
  Shot fake and take it all the way to the goal both right and left,
  Lay-ups on both sides of the goal with both hands, including reverse lay-ups,
  Back-to-the-basket moves / Free Throws … And for those who are really Gym-Rats .. Defensive Footwork .  

11. And last, remember that “YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE IT!” If you love this game, then spending time with your best friend (your basketball) will never be work. It’s a love affair. It’s the highlight of your day. It’s just you, the ball, and the goal. You are in control of your game – your personal player development. You've gotta love it, and you will love getting better!

Above is a collection of thoughts regarding Off-Season Work-Outs compiled from Gary Payton, Dean Brittenham and RitzBBall

Solltest du eine Frage haben ueber irgendwas das hier geschrieben ist ... ich bin gern bereit zu helfen. E-Mail: mailto:ritzbball@aol.com

Good luck with your workouts,
Ray Ingram