As coaches, we expect our players to work in the off-season and make improvements. But what about us as coaches... what are we doing in the off-season to help our team and to improve ourselves as coaches?

Maintain balance in your personal life. Right after the season is over, step back and forget about it for a couple weeks. Take time for your family and friends, relax, enjoy life and your time away from the gym.

We already discussed re-evaluating your system, plays, players, etc. Make the necessary adjustments, if any, that you think will help next season. Think about your goals for the upcoming season. Now is the time to create a master practice plan, if you find that helpful.

is crucial in order to build a solid base of conditioning. This type of training should be executed 3-4 days per week and can involve activities such as running, biking, hiking and swimming.

Running is extremely effective, but it is also extremely stressful if done over long periods and distances. Cross-Training is an effective method to use in order to get results with little risk to your body

. The stresses that the body encounters doing a variety of activities is more beneficial to the athlete than the stresses encountered by doing the same old, tired routine. Also, the risk of injury is greater if you only take part in one activity.

Basketball may be the most demanding of all sports. Basketball is a game of quickness: fast starts, sharp cuts and turns, acceleration and deceleration, and jumping. The heart of the game is running. Some coaches estimated that a starting high school player will run a total of 3 to 5 miles in a 32-minute game.

During the off-season prepare yourself by putting into practice good training principles. This will help you to maintain your fitness at a high level. Therefore, you can better bring out the best in your athletic potential.

Off-season training for competitive basketball requires self- discipline, dedication, and sacrifice. Also, you must have a good working knowledge of athletic training principles.

If you’re serious about coaching basketball, you need to develop an off-season workout for your players.

t is vital to your team’s success that your players come into the season fit.  Before the AAU or summer leagues start, you should meet with your players individually and evaluate their play during the past season. At this time you should also give your player a written list of things they need to concentrate on during their off-season workouts.

One of the keys to getting the most out of your training program is to work outside of your comfort zone.

I can't argue that you're doing something to stay in shape and work on your game. But you're not really pushing yourself, and you shouldn't really expect those types of workouts to pay huge dividends.

Change your approach. Push yourself harder than you normally do, and you'll start to see results. Instead of shooting 30 or 40 random, lazy jump shots, create a plan for yourself. Shoot from 4 or 5 spots on the floor until you've made 30 or 40 shots from each spot (or some number that you set as a goal for yourself). Get in the triple-threat position, head-fake, take a quick dribble to one side or the other, get good lift on your shot (really getting off the ground), and concentrate on your follow-through. Push yourself to move quicker than you normally do, and to jump higher than you normally do.

The season is winding down. Routines change, friendships have grown, priorities change. As a player, what should you do now? When practice time comes and there is no practice, what do you do? When there are no games to prepare for, what do you do with your time? Here are a just a few thoughts I had as to how to recover and prepare for the next season. 1. Take 3 - 4 weeks to relax. It has been a long, physically and mentally draining season. If you want to improve, you have to give yourself a chance to recover. 2. Catch up and get ahead of your schoolwork. 3. Talk to your coach and evaluate your season. Talk about what you did well and what you did not. Determine the areas you need to improve on. Discuss the things you would like to do and how to accomplish them. 4. After taking a month off, start on your off-season workout program. The program should be about 75% skill work and 25% play. 5. Develop your shooting stroke. If you want to become a GREAT shooter and raise your percentage, it MUST happen during the off season. It's just TOO difficult to develop these skills and improve during the season. It must be done during the off season! 6. Start a strength training program. Your objective should be to gain strength from now until the end of the summer. 7. As you enter the summer, add more play to your workout. You should be at about 50% skill work, 50% play. Don't neglect your weight work. Great strength gains can be made during this period. 8. Go to camp. Learn form other coaches, play against different players. The more diverse your summer experience, the better player you will become. 9. When the summer is over, your routine changes. GET AHEAD in the classroom. Once the season starts, it is easy for your schoolwork to slip. 10. Change your workout routine to 25% skill, 75% play. 11. Switch you strength training routine to an endurance and strength maintenance routine. 12. A week before the season, take some time off. Get ready to go.