How to Develop an Off Season Basketball Improvement Plan

Basketball teams are made during the season-basketball players are made during the off-season. To improve as a player, you must commit yourself to an off-season improvement plan. In this article I will focus on developing that plan. For younger players you will want to get assistance from a parent, older sibling or coach to develop this plan.

Things You'll Need

  • Commitment to improve as a basketball player
  • Input from coach
  • Computer or notebook to document the plan
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Instructions

    • 1

      Do a self-evaluation of your game. Reflect back on the season-what areas did you consistently desire to be more effective? List these areas on a sheet of paper.

    • 2

      Ask coach for an evaluation. Request a meeting or phone conversation and ask him/her what the top three to five areas are that you should focus on improving. List these on a sheet of paper.

    • 3

      Based on the results from Steps 1 and 2, combine similar areas together and come up with the three areas that you feel are most important to focus on that will make the greatest impact on you as a basketball player. List these three areas and mark them as "Off-Season Focus Areas."

    • 4

      For each of the Off-Season Focus Areas list the desired outcome for each of the areas. For example, if you chose "Improving Free-Throw Shooting" as a focus area, you may list the desired outcome as "Be a 75 Percent Free-Throw Shooter."

    • 5

      For each of the Off-Season Focus Areas brainstorm drills, exercises and other methods that can help to achieve the desired outcome. There are no right or wrong answers to this-just write down whatever comes to your mind.

    • 6

      Look at your brainstorming list and choose no more than five things for each focus area. These are the activities that you feel will be the most effective way to reach your desired outcome.

    • 7

      Determine the amount of time you will devote to your off-season development plan. You can list this as "minutes per day" or "hours per week." Keep in mind that there are other things that will be consuming your time. Better to commit to less time with a high level of focus than a lot of time with little focus.

    • 8

      Based on the time commitment in Step 7, plug in the items from Step 6. You do not have to do every item during every workout session-you can spread things out over the week and change it as you go to keep it fresh. Most importantly, make sure that you are addressing each area on a consistent basis and working towards your desired outcome with high intensity.

    • 9

      Provide rewards along the way for achieving certain milestones. For instance, if you start as a 50 percent free-throw shooter and your goal is to be a 75 percent free-throw shooter-reward yourself with a hot fudge sundae when you reach 60 percent for three consecutive shooting sessions.