Tips Every Player Needs to Prepare for the Season

by Mikko Simon September 22, 2014

by Jaimie Canterbury

The season has finally returned! Well the pre-season at least. That counts right? 

Every player that takes the game seriously knows that the pre-season is just as important as any other point in the season. You work, you sweat, you prepare. If you fail to accomplish your goals in the pre-season, you’ll likely end up heading into the basketball season unprepared and unconfident.

Tryouts are right around the corner, and we want to make sure you’re doing everything you need to be doing to prepare.

We tapped a few of our Alpha basketball trainers to give some advice on pre-season training. We will be posting these answers throughout the next few weeks!

1.  What is the purpose of “voluntary” team workouts and what should I be doing to prepare for them?

Coach G, OHoops (Orlando, FL)

Voluntary workouts are for coaches to see which players are really committed to the program.  Showing up is sometimes half the battle in voluntary team workouts because so many others will end up showing their “true colors” by not showing up.

Speaking from experience, when I was a freshman I remember being called out by the Varsity coach in front of over 200 players on the first day of tryouts. "Trytten showed up to every workout this off-season, and because of that I now know who he is."

Weights, track, open gyms: all of these are vital parts of the game in becoming a power house program, building up a team, and really figuring out from a coaches perspective what the upcoming season is going to be like. Prepare yourself to succeed in each of these environments and your coach will feel good about you going into tryouts.

Be sure to follow Coach G on Twitter and check out the OHoops Instagram page as well!

T.J. Jones, NBN Basketball (Conway, AR)

Voluntary workouts are an opportunity for teammates to get in the gym and work on their game to get ready for the upcoming season.

To prepare for voluntary workouts you want to make sure you are in shape and have been working on your game. Working on skills such as ball handling, passing, shooting, and defensive techniques will not only help you get ready, but it will also show the other players and coaches you are serious about getting better and helping the team win.

You can check out more from Coach TJ on Twitter and Instagram!

Darnell Ford, My Sky Elite (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Voluntary team workouts are extremely important because they allow you to work on specific aspects of your game that you maybe struggled with and/or need to continue to improve on. 


Prepare yourself by knowing what areas of the game you need to improve on, and focus on improving in those areas.

Look at more from Coach Ford on Twitter and Facebook!

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