Impress Your Coaches - Come to Camp In Shape

I coach at a small Division III college in NJ and recently we had our players in the gym to work out. This is the first time the guys have been back up to campus since they departed for the summer in early May.

This also has been the first time they've all been together to play semi-organized games since the season broke in March.

There are a few things I'd like to say about this. First of all, all players were given workout sheets at the end of the season (by the way we were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, so no one should have been satisfied!) that were specified to what they needed to be working on.

From March till June the work being done was mostly on them. This was the time though where as coaches you can really see what guys are truly committed to getting better and to the team and which guys maybe lack such committment.

My memo to all players though is do yourself a favor and keep yourself in shape. There is a lot more to being a college basketball player than simply getting into the gym and shooting shots. While I'm not knocking shooting and believe shots should be taken as often as possible, there is much more to getting better than simply that.

Your workouts leading up to camps and to the season should be intense. They should be done at game speed. Faster than game speed actually. You should be physically exhausted at the end of workouts. This is the way that development is truly going to occur.

As coaches its obvious which guys have been going to work and which guys haven't. We had two different players show up to camp in vastly different shape than how we left them in March. The first was an incoming freshman we were recruiting all season. Since we last saw him in February, he not only looked two inches taller (pleasant surprise) but his arms also grew and gained definition. He also was the first person in the gym that day!

The other player was our third string point guard the previous season. His game lacks in skill and other areas but his body has always been at the collegiate level. He showed up to camp however looking in worse shapes, with less definition and it showed in his play which was lethargic and frankly not good.

In order to be at your peak performance you need to be in your peak physical condition and shape. Do yourself a favor and impress your coaches. Whatever the methods are (and there are probably 100+ of them) do what your coach is asking of you this off season and really attack your workouts. It will show up in your play on the court!