Basketball on the Edge – Summer To Do List For Players – Vintage Edition

Here’s a post to help you improve your game this summer.

As school let out for many of us in the past few weeks I thought it would be a great time to put together a “Summer To Do” list for basketball players. If your young player is serious about improving their game before next season here are some guidelines to follow this summer.

1. Evaluate where you are right now.

What is your current skill set? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your role on your team? Are you satisfied with that role? How can you grow your role? These are all questions you should ask yourself as you prepare to put a plan in place to get better this summer.

Evaluate yourself in the following areas.

1. Work Ethic
2. Shooting
3. Dribbling
4. Rebounding
5. Passing
6. Defense
7. Athleticism
8. Conditioning
9. Nutrition
10. Basketball I.Q.
11. Leadership
12. Team Spirit/Being a great teammate

After you have evaluated yourself you are ready to begin planning out what you need to do this summer to become the player you want to be. Make sure that your actions match your goals!

2. Make sure you are willing to work.

Notice in the self-evaluation list that work ethic is #1. Without that nothing on the rest of this list matters.

3. Plan

Based on your self-evaluation prioritize what skills you are going to work on. Continue to improve your strengths while also attacking your weaknesses. Master the fundamental skills required of any player and then zero in on what YOU need to do to maximize your basketball skill set.

Plan where and when you are going to work on individual skill development. Players today don’t spend nearly as much time alone in a gym or on a court as they used to. Make that a priority this summer, regardless of what specific skills you are working on.

Figure out where and when you are going to play some actual games. In addition to your skill work will you play in a summer league? Pick-up games? Your goal should be to have at least 3 individual skill development hours for every 1 game you play this summer. That’s not easy to do, but it takes time and dedication to be a great player.

4. Get on a strength and conditioning program.

There are great resources out there everywhere, this article from Stack magazine  is an excellent place to start

5. Eat right.

What you put into your body determines what you can get out of it. Eating healthy helps you to reach peak athletic performance. Healthy Baller is a great resource for sports nutrition advice and guidance.

6. Get out of your comfort zone.

When you practice, you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Pushing yourself to the limits of your current ability and then beyond results in the greatest gains in skill level. Players all over the country go out to practice and go through the motions. Don’t be one of them! Go hard! I knew a kid when I was in high school who used to brag about how much he practiced, but whenever I saw him he would be shooting, then walking after his ball, dribbling lazily back to the perimeter to launch another shot. Then, he’d be talking to anyone who came in the gym or riding the exercise bike at a leisurely pace. Afterwards he’d tell me he worked on his game for 3 hours. All I could do was laugh. I was covered in sweat knowing that I put in some real work!

7. Work on your shot.

I don’t care what position you play or what kind of shooter you are today. In the summer you need to get shots up. There simply isn’t time during practice in season to get up enough shots to become a good shooter. Design a workout that gets you game shots at game speed. Check out our online training page for drills that can help you improve as a shooter.

8. Attend a basketball camp or skill development workout session.

Learn from different coaches, play against different players. You’ll be exposed to new drills, new ideas, and be challenged in ways you may have never considered. Learn to deal with new personalities, develop your leadership skills, be a great teammate. The more knowledge you acquire about the game the higher your basketball IQ will become.

Get these items done and by summer’s end you’ll be a much improved player!

You will only be rewarded in public for the things you practice in private.

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