Get Ready: Basketball Offseason Workouts for Next Season

The days of playing pick-up basketball during the offseason with little or no strength training are long gone. Serious players, whether they’re elite high schoolers or college players, dedicate blocks of time to individual drills and lifting weights to stay in shape. Those players often wind down with a pick-up game if they aren’t playing in a league.

Part of your workout program will depend on how long you have. If your break is 6 months, you can dig deeper into a comprehensive strength and conditioning plan. If it’s only 8 weeks, you’ll likely want to keep your training simple.

Getting stronger in the right areas helps keep players from getting fatigued over a long season. Let’s look at ways you can improve your strength and skills in the offseason. Remember to consult a physician before starting a training program.

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Strength Training

There are dozens of exercises you can do to improve your basketball strength. The key area to work on is your lower body. Focus on your hamstrings, glutes, and quad muscles and your shoulders and arms. A strong lower body helps improve your running and jumping. Strong arms and shoulders are critical for your shooting and rebounding. Below are explanations for 5 key strength exercises:

Squat: With your hips in a neutral position, your back straight, and your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down until your bottom is parallel to the floor. Push yourself back to your starting position with your legs to finish one repetition. As you get stronger, add a bar with weight on it. Place it on your shoulders and perform the squat.
Shoulder Press: Push a barbell resting on your shoulders over your head with your feet firmly planted on the ground. This works your deltoid, trapezoid, pectoral, and triceps muscles.
Bench Press: Lying on your back on a bench, lower a racked barbell to your chest. Push the barbell up after it touches your chest, fully extending your arms. This exercise works your upper chest muscles.
Deadlift: With your back straight and your hips in a neutral position, lift a barbell off the floor to your waist while looking straight ahead. After lifting the barbell to your waist, lower it back to the floor for one repetition. A deadlift strengthens your glutes, hamstrings, core, and back.
Standing Rows: For a standing row, bend your knees slightly and position a cable at chest level. With your elbows bent, pull the cable toward your chest. Retract the cable once it hits your chest. This exercise works the upper part of your shoulders and chest.

For a specific lift, maximum means the most weight you can lift. Below is a simple workout plan that you can do for 12 weeks. Do the exercises below three times weekly for 12 weeks.

Day 1: Four sets of 8 to 10 reps of each exercise at 60% of your maximum.

Day 2: Four sets of 4 to 6 reps of each exercise at 80% of your maximum.

Day 3: Five sets of 10 to 12 reps of each exercise at 50% of your maximum.

The key to a basketball offseason strength program is adding power. Players need to be agile, lean, and strong to endure a fast-paced game and a season that runs anywhere from 4 to 7 months long. Minimizing rest between the sets will help your endurance. Start by taking 90-second breaks between sets and try to reduce it to 30 seconds by the end of the 12 weeks.

Basketball Shooting Drills for Offseason Improvement

Basketball shooting drills can be done alone, though having a partner always helps. The key to good shooting is having the proper form and practicing the form the same way every time. Each shot should leave your hand the same way every time. Developing practice routines is critical to maintaining your form. The best shooters spend hours in the gym putting up shots. Below are 3 drills that can help you become a better shooter:

1-Hand Form Shooting Drill: Good shooters typically look like they are waving goodbye after the basketball leaves their shooting hand. Start by standing a few feet in front of the basketball, grab the ball, and with your shooting arm slightly in front of your chest, make an L. Push the ball up and toward the basket, making sure you finish with your fingers and wrist curled downward. Once you make a basket, move back a few feet and repeat the drill until you get to the free throw line.
Around the World: Pick six spots on the floor between 4 and 20 feet from the basket on each side of the lane. Make a shot and move to the next spot. If you miss a shot, you must shoot until you make it from that spot. The goal is to finish it in less than 2 minutes.
Short/Long Shooting Drill: This drill helps you with your rhythm. Having a partner rebound the ball is helpful but not required. Start by shooting 3-point shots from 5 different positions at the top of the key and then 2 on each side of the 3-point arc. Run to the middle of the lane and shoot 5 jumpers 10 feet from the same spot and then shoot 5 jumpers from the free throw line. Repeat this drill 5 times and count how many shots you make. It should be done as quickly as possible.

Ball Handling Drills for Offseason Improvement

Ball handling used to be primarily the responsibility of guards. In basketball today, though, the more versatile a player is, the harder a team is to defend. That’s why all players need to work on their ball-handling skills. Even forwards and centers are expected to handle the ball. Listed below are 3 drills to improve your ball-handling skills:

Two-Ball Drills: Using both hands, bounce 2 basketballs in front of you up to your waist. Make sure you are looking forward, and not at the balls. This drill helps improve your court vision and coordination. Variations of this drill include dribbling the balls to just your knees and dribbling the ball from your left to right hand and your right to left hand.
Ball Pressure Handling Drill: The ball handler starts at midcourt against 2 defenders, who apply pressure at the top of the key. The ball handler must try to break through the defenders and dribble to the basket. This drill helps you learn how to dribble through a double-team.
Crossover Dribble Drill: With your head up and your legs shoulder width apart, dribble a ball in front of you from your left-to-right hand and then back again. You should keep your dribble knee high. Do the crossover dribbles as quickly as possible. Learning how to use the crossover dribble effectively helps protect you from getting the ball stolen.

The offseason is the time to make changes to your game. You might want to work on improving your weak hand or perhaps improve your lower body strength. Even though doing the work can be monotonous, you can make the exercises and drills fun by setting goals and rewarding yourself for those goals.