It's always difficult to restart your basketball training routine after the toll of a full season, especially if it didn’t end the way you wanted it to. The question is, how do young basketball players get into a mindset to attack the off-season with a clear head and motivation to be better?
In this blog, we’ll take a look at 6 ways players can bounce back from burnout and get the off-season started with a positive mindset.
1. Give Yourself the Adequate Time Needed Away from the Game
Everybody needs a mental reset whenever the season ends - especially if your season came to an end earlier than expected, or even if you were a champion at the end of the year. That time away can really help you in a variety of ways:
Physical Health: The season is a grind, and oftentimes there will be some sort of nagging injury that has affected your game during the final weeks of the season. This is the time to take it easy and let your body fully recover and heal.
Mental Health: It’s good to get your head away from the game for a bit; having an intense focus on something for months at a time can lead to strain and burnout - resulting in worse results. Try investing your time in something new and enjoyable for some time before getting back into the swing of things.
Staying Refreshed and Hungry for More: Giving yourself adequate time away is sometimes seen as “not trying hard enough” or “not passionate enough” but it’s actually the complete opposite. Hoopers who give themselves time away come back more refreshed and ready to tackle the goals they have in mind for the next season.
2. Ease Back In
When it's time and you are feeling ready to start getting back into it, take it slow. Injury can become a major problem even before you get started. Your body is not used to going 100% like it was in the playoffs or at the end of the season.
Make sure you are taking all the preventive measures possible; start with shorter and less intense sessions, make sure your are adequately warming up, and put an emphasis on good mechanics.
If you do all these things - you will be able to ramp up faster and stay healthy all summer long to elevate your game.
We also have some great videos to help you in case you do get dinged up early in the off-season. Explore our FREE Rehab Series with certified athletic trainer Justus Bejno. Justus has 4 exercises that will help you come back from lower-body injuries, strengthening yourself for the future.
3. Start a List of Goals
With all the changes you want to make to your game, it may be a bit overwhelming at first to know where to start. This is where you can really influence your mindset to start the off-season. Take some time and really get to the bottom of what you want to accomplish. Write it down and make sure you are always seeing these things (a good spot to put them is on your screensaver).
Through this, you have an idea of what all this hard work is going to pay off towards. The work in the dark will always shine through later on in the season.
Need help? Our Goal Setting feature inside the Dr. Dish Player App is designed to help you set your basketball training goals and reach them.
Here, you can set a variety of different goals within the Player App and not only see your progress towards reaching them, but receive notifications and reminders to encourage them to keep making strides towards them.
4. Plan Your Off-Season
After you set your goals - you will have a better idea of what you need to work on in the off-season. You can then plan out the different phases and areas that need the most attention. If you're unsure where to start, we have the perfect thing to help you.
The Dr. Dish Home is the most comprehensive at-home training tool on the market. Yes it is a shooting machine, but it offers so much more in terms of player development. Get to your Off-Season goals, faster with:
- Up to 1,200 reps per hour
- 5 selectable passing distances
- 250+ drills & workouts
- Shooting, dribbling, and agility work
- World-class trainers
- Robust analytics & feedback
5. Develop a Positive Mindset through Affirmations
It’s undeniable how far a positive mindset and confidence can get you not only in the game of basketball, but in life. Positivity always is going to attract success, so trying to stay in that mindset when it comes to training is the best way to look at it. Affirmations are a great way to bring about those thoughts.
Be on the lookout for something BIG coming soon that will help you build your affirmations! 👀
6. Work Hard, but Mix in Some Fun!
Training can sometimes be pretty monotonous - doing the same thing over and over trying to perfect it. This is when burnout can especially kick-in, and mixing in some different competitions is a great way to break this up.
Get a couple teammates and play 1 on 1, 21, do a shooting contest, try to get a streak of free throws going, etc. These things not only translate to the game, but enhance the training process while still being enjoyable.
Dr. Dish also helps bring the fun while training. With competitive leaderboards, Me vs. Me, Multiplayer, and much more, hoopers can work on getting better while having fun doing it.
Always remember, you play the game of basketball for one primary reason - you enjoy doing it! So whenever that becomes secondary to something else, you know you need to take a step back and take a break so you don't get burnt out.