Summer conditioning basketball programs are essential particularly because there are more basketball tournaments in which teams of all levels can compete in nationally. It is important to stress basketball conditioning drills because of the environmental conditions, player fatigue, dehydration, and the number of games that are required to be played in a single day or over multiple days. These factors all play apart in the players health and outcome of the game. These conditioning drill tips will make the management of the game, player fatigue, and strategy easier to manage and the outcome will be more enjoyable for everyone involved.

TCUP Principle

TCUP stands for Thinking Correctly Under Pressure. We define it as a player being able to respond to the physical demands required under game situations while making correct mental decisions under pressure. Poor mental and physical conditioning contributes to defensive lapses, lack of concentration, weak passing, short shots, increased fouling, and an inability to run the floor.

With conditioning drills you can increase the probability of a favorable outcome especially during the last six minutes of the game when the greatest physical demands are made on each player to execute and play hard.

Players need to be mentally tough and physically capable of closing out a contested shot or withstanding offensive or defensive pressures by the opposing team.

Facility Conditions

Most high school gyms that we play in are hot and humid. These conditions are present because either the schools do not choose to deploy air-conditioning for financial reasons and/or the number of players and fans add tremendously to the heat load. At one large high school we played in there were 4 full size basketball courts side by side with eight teams playing at the same time. Add to that the fans and the other teams watching the games you get an idea of heat and humidity built up during the heart of the day. In a word this condition can be described as oppressive.

Coaches have to guard against dehydration, fatigue, and injury with proper player rotation to rest players throughout the game. Also, you must insist the players drink water during all time-outs and rotations to maintain a high level of performance. While you cannot always schedule time-outs due to the ebb and flow of the game it is critical that you and your assistant coach keep an eye on the players to provide a substitute as you notice player(s) are becoming weary.

Tournament Schedule

Summer tournaments often require a team to play two to three games in one day and we have played five games over a weekend (three games one day and two games the second day). Fortunately, teams get one to two hours between scheduled games for rest. It is during this period that as a coach you must insist your team eats food, drinks water, and rests as much as possible. Understand that young players are excited and often times it is difficult to get them to sit in one place very long but attempts should be made to get them to relax before the next game.

Practice

Practice before the tournament is where you prepare to meet the physical grind and the heat and humidity of summer inside a gymnasium. We extend our conditioning (running) in the gym for the first thirty minutes of practice. Our practice facility is not air conditioned so it simulates actual playing conditions the players will face. Once the players have broken a sweat we begin to time the conditioning drills and all player groupings are pushed to meet the minimum prescribed time. The conditioning demands are intensified and push the players to their limits in practice and thus is not a new experience during the tournament. While we do not provide a break during the conditioning drills we carefully watch to make sure that all players do not become dehydrated. Once we have completed the drills they are given adequate time to drink water and recover.

My team and I look forward to the summer tournaments and although they hate the conditioning drills that accompany practice the team enjoys our ability to continue to provide offensive and defensive pressure because we are in much better physical condition and have the ability to "think correctly under pressure".

These conditioning tips are designed to provide some guidelines supplemented by experience and commonsense for the new or soon to be new coach.