As a beginning coach, I ignored the warm-ups and used dribbling drills with two balls at medium 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 trained with the club men’s team, it felt like more than half of practice was a warm-up. I agreed, in a sense, with my team: we arrived before practice time and the players jumped rope for 5-10 minutes above the bleachers as a warm-up and then did a sub-maximal drill on the court before moving on to our practice. .
In our first game, our opponent spent 25 of the allotted 30 minutes of pregame warmup using a basketball. Later in the season, I saw another player perform an extensive plyometric warm-up prior to the game. While the Americans criticize the European players for their defensive shortcomings, the Swedish players’ defensive footwork impressed me. We usually assume that a foreign-born player with expert footwork developed their footwork by playing football, but as I reflected on my coaching experience abroad, it seemed that their pre-game and post-game routines Practice focused on footwork and led to its development.
The following season, while preparing workouts and practice routines, I implemented a series of warm-ups to start practice: drills to focus on footwork and jumping ability. Training women, the pre-practice jump and agility program is an attempt to increase performance and reduce injuries, as researchers believe women can reduce the risk of ACL injuries through a little plyometric routine.
I use three general warm-up routines: (1) jump rope, (2) stations, or (3) full-court dynamic warm-up (carioca, backstroke, jumping jacks, side jumps, high knees, glute kicks, and high jumps/ of power). ). Our warm-up now lasts 10-15 minutes.
heating stations
When we do our seasonal warm-up, we jog, backtrack and carioca. Since we have 10 players, we work in pairs. Our approach is to teach quick changes of direction and quickness in the first step.
Station 1: Mirror Drill (15 seconds on, rest for 15 seconds, 15 seconds on)
We teach most of our defensive posture and movement on the ball through this drill and later in 1v1 drills. Players face each other with one player starting as an attacker and one 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. Drill practices baby hook shots. He starts under the basket and comes out with his left foot on the right side to shoot with his right hand; grab the ball from the net, keeping it above the shoulders and step to the left side of the rim with the right foot, shooting with the 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 you land properly from a vertical jump and absorb the force of the impact on your leg muscles, not just your quads and knee joint. Squat down to a mid squat, lower thighs parallel to the ground before jumping up.
Station 4: X-Lay-ups
Make as many trays in 30 seconds and then switch. Start on an elbow, dribble and try a layup. Bounce and run to the other elbow; dribble and try a layup from the other side. Continue for 30 seconds.
Station 5: partner shooting
Player 1 passes to player 2 and closes. P2 catches, shoots and follows his shot. P1 answers the shot and relocates, continually moving and asking for the ball. P2 passes P1 and contests the shot. Partners shoot for a minute.
Station 6: McHale Drill
The left hand continuously tips the ball against the backboard while the right hand grabs the net (hoop). Do six and switch to the right side. The right hand tips the ball against the backboard while the left hand grabs the net (rim). Repeat on the left side for a total of 18 points. Change partners.
Station 7: T-Drill with 2 ball dribble
Set up the T-Drill with cones 5-7 feet apart in a T shape. Start at the base of the T and run forward while dribbling two balls. Move to the left cone, then to the right cone, and finally back to the intersection. Back the pedal up to the base of the T. Go three times and turn. The other player practices stationary two-ball drills while resting.
These quick drills provide a fast-paced warm-up that requires little instruction and ensures players are working up a sweat. Our approach is to complete drills quickly – players run from station to station and practice intensely on each drill. The warm-up focuses on ball control (6 and 7), quick changes of direction (1 and 7), jumping (3 and 6) and shooting (2, 4 and 5), training a variety of skills in a short period of time. weather.
