Indoor Basketball Training

Basketball players must have endurance and be fast and agile athletes. A basketball team may have several games a week; performance can be affected by a player's ability to recover between games. An effective indoor basketball training program should include technical skills, strength conditioning, plyometric and endurance training. When designing your training program, it is important to make the most of the time and resources available to you.

  1. Assessment

    • The first part of any training program is the initial assessment. You must know where you are before you can set achievable goals. A successful training focuses on improving your weaknesses and maintaining your strengths. Set benchmarks for each skill assessed. Set realistic and specific goals. For example, "I will reduce my 40-yard sprint time by half a second by the end of the pre-season." This is a specific, usable goal. It is not enough to say you want to run the 40 yards faster. Reassess at set intervals during the training program. Seeing actual results will work as motivation for the remainder of the training.

    Off Season

    • Basketball is an intense game that requires a high level of fitness. Off-season training plays a crucial role in a player's performance during the season. Injuries can be avoided and recovered from by proper off-season training. Remember, resting in the off-season does not mean doing nothing. Without running or playing basketball, do a low-intensity cardio activity, like swimming or biking, two or three times a week. Off-season strength conditioning should focus on core stability, two or three times a week. Every off season should include flexibility work. Range of motion is lost quickly if you do not stretch often and regularly. Stretching should be done daily and yoga can be done twice a week to supplement your flexibility and strength.

    Early Pre-Season

    • Early pre-season basketball training should last four weeks. Athletes tend to put off pre-season training if they have a choice and rob themselves of being able to start slowing and build up to the season. The aerobic portion of training should be a 30- to 45-minute jog. Strength training in pre-season can utilize weight training using heavier weights, as opposed to the core focus in the off season. Continue with your flexibility training, using daily stretching and possibly yoga once or twice a week.

    Late Pre-Season

    • This stage of the pre-season lasts eight weeks and is increasingly challenging. Replacing jogging with shuttle runs will build your sprint speed and ability to recover from the demands of the game. As the pre-season progresses, receive a ball and pass the ball out while doing the shuttle run. To reach peak fitness, do shuttle runs for 30 minutes, two to three times a week. Four weeks before the season, replace your weight training with plyometric training, also known as jump training. Applying plyometrics after completing weight training in early pre-season is how a player develops explosive power.

    In Season

    • You will now be able to see the benefits of all the hard work you've done during the off and pre-seasons. When athletes are at their peak fitness, they know game situations will never be as hard as the training that got them there. The goal for in-season training is to maintain what you have developed. You will need a balance between strength and power training twice a week, with plyometric training once a week. Twice a week you will need endurance, speed and agility drills to maintain your fitness level. Daily stretching is needed in season, just as it is needed in every other part of the year.