As a beginning trainer, I ignored warm-ups and used dribbling exercises with two balls at half speed as a warm-up for more intense activities during practice. When I moved to Sweden to coach a professional women’s basketball team, the players were married to their warm-ups and couldn’t function without an extended warm-up period. When I practiced with the men’s club team, I felt that more than half of the practice was a warm-up. I agreed, in a sense, with my team: we arrived before our practice time and the players jumped rope for 5-10 minutes above the stands as a warm-up and then we did a submaximal exercise on the court before moving onto our court. . practice.
In our first game, our opponent spent 25 of the allotted 30 minutes of pregame warm-up using a basketball. Later in the season, I saw another player go through an extensive pregame plyometric warm-up. While the Americans criticize European players for their defensive shortcomings, the defensive footwork of the Swedish players impressed me. We generally assume that a foreign-born player with good footwork developed her footwork playing soccer, but as I reflected on my experience as a coach abroad, it seemed that her pregame and practice routines were focused. in footwork and led to its development.
The following season, while preparing workouts and practice routines, I implemented a series of warm-ups to begin practice: exercises to focus on footwork and jumping ability. By training women, the jump and agility pre-practice program is an attempt to increase performance and reduce injuries, as researchers believe that women can reduce the risk of ACL injury through a small routine plyometric.
I use three general warm-up routines: (1) jump rope ‘(2) stations or (3) dynamic warm-up of the entire court (carioca, running backwards, jumping, jumping sideways, high knees, butt kicks and high jumps power). ). Our warm-up now lasts 10-15 minutes.
Heating stations
When we do our season warm-up, we jog, backtrack, and carioca. As we have 10 players, we work in pairs. Our goal is to teach quick changes of direction and speed in the first step.
Station 1: Mirror Exercise (15 seconds on, 15 seconds idle, 15 seconds on)
We teach most of our defensive posture and movement with the ball through this drill and later in the 1v1 drills. Players face each other and one player starts out as an offensive player and another as a defender. The offensive player leads, moving laterally, and the defensive player tries to stay face to face. The offensive player’s goal is to create space between the two, while the defender tries to stay within the width of the offensive player’s body.
Station 2: Mikan Drill
The first player calls for 30 seconds and then the second player calls. The drill practices baby hook shots. Start below the basket and step out with your left foot from the right side to shoot with your right hand; catch the ball from the net, keeping the ball above your shoulders and step to the left side of the ring with your right foot, throwing with your left hand. Keep going.
Station 3: Jump Squats
Squat down and jump as high as possible, swinging your arms in the air. Focus on a soft landing so that you land properly from a vertical jump and absorb the force of the impact on all the muscles in your legs, not just the quadriceps and knee joint. Squat into a half squat, with your lower thighs parallel to the ground before jumping.
Station 4: X-Lay-ups
Do as many layers in 30 seconds and then switch. Start with one elbow, dribble, and try to make a layup. Bounce and run to the other elbow; dribble and attempt a layup from the other side. Continue for 30 seconds.
Station 5: Shooting in pairs
Player 1 passes to Player 2 and closes. P2 catches, shoots and follows his shot. P1 contests the shot and relocates, moving continuously and calling for the ball. P2 goes to P1 and triggers contests. Partners shoot for one minute.
Station 6: McHale Drill
The left hand leans the ball continuously against the board while the right hand grabs the net (hoop). Do six and switch to the right side. The right hand leans the ball against the board while the left hand grabs the net (edge). Repeat on the left side for a total of 18 tips. Change partners.
Station 7: T-Drill with 2 Ball Bouncers
Set up the T-Drill with the cones 5-7 feet apart in a T-shape. Start at the base of the T and run forward as you dribble two balls. Change to the left cone, then to the right cone, and finally back to the intersection. Back the pedal to the base of the T. Go three times and turn it. The other player practices two-ball stationary drills while resting.
These quick drills provide a fast-paced warm-up that requires little instruction and ensures that players break a sweat. Our goal is to complete drills quickly – players run from station to station and practice hard with each drill. The warm-up focuses on ball control (6 and 7), rapid changes of direction (1 and 7), jumps (3 and 6) and shots (2, 4 and 5), training a variety of skills in a small amount of time. weather.