Basketball Practice Plan: Train Like It’s The 4th Quarter

SECONDS ARE SLIPPING AWAY FROM THE CLOCK, SWEAT IS DRIPPING DOWN YOUR PLAYERS’ FACES, AND YOU NEED ONE MORE BASKET…

At first, you may think that this is the beginning of any fabled fourth quarter story where your team drops the game winning basket with seconds melting from the clock.

But what if I said that this same “4th quarter” intensity and famed situation could happen during…. practice?

Do you ever wonder if your athletes are really training at the intensity that they play during a tough game or at the intensity level of the 4th quarter?

I know from experience as a coach that it can be difficult to tell how hard a kid is practicing at, because let’s face it, you can’t keep an eye on everyone at all times.

As coaches, we devise our basketball practice plan in anticipation that our players are playing at 110%. Sometimes our players don’t understand, but the reason why is that we want them to break barriers while training so that they are physically and mentally fit during the last few moments of a tough game.

It’s normal for players to struggle when their tired in the later parts of a game, and shooting percentages from AAU all the way to the Pros demonstrate this.

Here is a list of a few players shooting percentages from the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter.

Allen Iverson- 47.1% 1st quarter, 43.2% 4th quarter- drop off of 3.9% over the course of game.

Kobe Byrant- 48% 1st quarter, 41.1% 4th quarter- drop off of 6.9% over course of game

Paul Pierce- 48.3% 1st quarter, 45.2% 4th quarter- drop off of 3.1% over course of game

Gilbert Arenas- 48.7% 1st quarter, 39.1% 4th quarter- drop off of 9.6% over the course of game.

Dwayne Wade- 51.9% 1st quarter, 45.8% 4th quarter- drop off of 6.1% over the course of game.

As you can see, these hall of fame professionals see a significant dip in shooting percentage from the first to the fourth quarter!

So many coaches wonder… How do I get my kids to work on proper footwork, get their heart rate up and fight through “game speed” fatigue while shooting?

Dr Dish Shooting Machines are a great way to train like you were playing in the 4th quarter. Features like the Intensity Tracker, Location Setting (so you can move from location to location and not just stand around), and the Tempo Setting (so you can adjust the time between passes) all will help you train at game speed.

DrDishBasketball.com

Want to learn more about the shooting percentage differences between the first and fourth quarter? Click Here!

Are you missing this very important concept in your practice?