The 5 Best Ways to Attack the Off-Season

Now that it’s been a few weeks since the basketball season wrapped up, hopefully you’ve had a chance to reflect and get some well-earned rest. Both are key to transitioning fully into off-season mode.

If you haven’t already, take a few minutes to jot down the positives from your season, any major learning moments, and the areas you’d like to improve. And don’t rush, give yourself time to reset mentally and physically before jumping back in.

With spring here and the off-season officially underway, here are the 5 Best Ways to Attack the Off-Season.

1. Formulate a Plan

This is the most important step in having a successful off-season, and could be the key factor in determining how much growth you make in your game. Every hooper needs a game plan to build up their strengths, and attack their weaknesses. 

We suggest consulting with your coaches and/or trainers during this time period to get a general idea of what they want you working on, and what drills/actions can accomplish that.

For more information on structuring your off-season, Dr. Dish also offers countless resources for hoopers to help create this plan (be on the lookout this Spring and Summer for social content), the most comprehensive one being our Off-Season Player Guide.

This FREE 37 page guide features instructional videos, drills, strength and nutrition advice, and everything in between. The Off-Season Player Guide will help get you where you want to be for the next season, faster!

2. Set Lofty, but Achievable Goals

Another very important aspect of the off-season that ties into formulating a plan, is setting goals. These goals can be both numerical and qualitative, but should be challenging and something that inspires growth in yourself every time you hit the court.

For example: if your goal is to shoot 100 shots a day this Spring and Summer to become a better shooter, when you did the same exact thing last year, how is that going to make you a better player next season? Or improve your team’s record? Or secure college offers?

A common phrase trainers use is to “shock the body.". This means going past your current limit, to form a new baseline to improve from. So maybe this Summer, instead of just shooting 100 shots per day - You could shoot 125 a day, with a goal of making at least 50 of them. This is both quantifiable, and is past your previous limit.

Dr. Dish provides a goal setting feature to track this info! Learn more here.

3. Play Structured AND Unstructured Basketball

Even though you should be setting goals and having a detailed plan for getting better this Summer, any training time is good training time at the end of the day. And there’s a couple of different ways to improve your game (both are important to growth and development):

Structured Play

Structured play refers to the idea of practicing with a clear framework, and goal in mind towards the game. Whether that’s specific drills you're working on with a clear goal, or live game action playing AAU or circuit basketball, you’re working on things that are directly correlated to the actual skills you’ll be using in a future game.

Unstructured Play

Unstructured play is a bit more laxed, and can result in you being more creative and trying new things on the court. Whether that’s playing a game of PIG with your friends, or trying out new moves an NBA player did that you’ve never attempted before, this is a space you can have fun, and also experiment with your game.

Both approaches are neither right nor wrong, but should be paired with each other for the best results!

Dr. Dish provides some great ways do both at the same time by providing fun, as well as stat tracking ability. Learn more info about Knockdown, Me vs. Me, and Multiplayer Mode.

4. Dial in Your Cardio, Strength, and Nutrition

How many times have you or one of your teammates showed up to tryouts without a ton of physical activity over the Summer? After running up and down the court a little bit, you probably feel winded. We’ve all done this before, and it probably means you’re a tad out of shape.

This is very normal going into a new season, and nobody is going to be ready to immediately play a hard fought conference game right away, but you can combat this and really impress the coaches by being in basketball shape the moment you walk in those doors for tryouts. The way you do this? Making sure you're really paying attention to, and building up your physical fitness during the Summer. Again, we recommend checking out our Off-Season Player Guide, which features countless pages of strength and nutrition info from certified personal Trainer Jason Ivesdal.

Another way to do this is to make sure you’re getting in daily cardio for at least 30 minutes (zone 2 or 3), and participating in open runs at a local gym. You can also schedule open gyms with teammates to help build up chemistry by the time the season rolls around.

5. Perfect Your Upcoming Role

Lastly, make sure you are practicing for how you are going to have to play next year. If the coach is expecting you to be a starter who is a primary scorer, make sure you’re ready to play big minutes and impact the team. Does the coach need you to be a rotational player who can contribute from beyond the arc and play defense? Make sure your shot is dialed in and effort is high.

We all might not be the star player of the team, but you definitely have the ability to contribute in a positive way, by playing in the flow of the game and doing your part.

We hope you enjoyed this article, and implement some of these ideas into your training to have the best off-season possible! 💯

In-case you're looking for an at-home training solution to support you in your journey to become a better player, the Dr. Dish Home is always the best option. The #1 Selling Shooting Machine in the World™ has helped thousands of players reach their highest potential through more reps, motivation, and fun.