The Top 10 Workout Killers

Think about this concept: the majority of players really don't want to work hard for free, and what is remarkable is people pay others to take their body and mind to a place it's never been. That being said, this article is about things that may kill an athlete's workout.

If you can overcome these workout killers, then as a player you will get better and as a coach you will gain the trust and dependence of your athletes. Because, when you think about it, you have three times as many practices as you do games.

Boredom

If your athletes get bored, they begin to hate the workout. And you should not have a negative connotation to any exercises you are doing.

Fatigue

Anytime an athlete continues to be out of shape and gets tired, you start to lose the player's bio-mechanics. The player will start to teach the muscles incorrect memory. In other words, their form will be off in everything they do. John Wooden said it best: "Perfect practice makes permanent results". There is a difference between being tired and being winded. If a player is winded, they can continue to go through each exercise hard and correct.

Lack of Game Speed

If a player does not simulate game speed, the practice is not truly authentic. I always have my players practice a little bit above and beyond game speed. If the practice is hard the game will be easy. Now obviously there will be times when you are just working on form and mechanics. And those practices are necessary and different.

No Game-Like Drills

Anytime a player is practicing and studying the wrong notes, he won't be ready for the test. What I mean by that is a coach has to give the players the correct drills in order to have congruent skills in the game. For example, in basketball you can't have a kid spinning two balls and expect him to improve his ball handling. Also you must stay in progression. The skills and drills must build up. For example, if an athlete has trouble shooting layups, they shouldn't spend all of their time shooting 3-pointers.

Too Many Players, Lack of Equipment

The key to getting your players better, once they learn, is repetition and conditioning. You can't have six players in a drill and only one ball. What have made our reputation good are our results. We get results from making sure that every player in our workout has a ball. This way, players are getting enough repetitions. We also make sure there is no standing around or down time. We implement two skills in multiple sequence drills. Players are always on the move.

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