Our pre-season training is just about complete (for hockey) and it’s still going for basketball but I just wanted to share some important thoughts I had for this very, very important time period in the macrocycle.

I like to call this time period the pre-pre season. It’s actually the 3-4 weeks (6 weeks in men’s basketball) before actual practice occurs, which is often known as pre-season (period before games begin). This is often the most physical stressful time period of the year as the overall volume of training, plus specific individual skill improvement is at it’s highest.

The goals of this time period are to prepare the team to practice at a high level and have the work capacity to be able to make it through practices where coaches can work on putting in systems and plays. They shouldn’t worry about having to get their athletes “in shape” because that will take time away from actually developing as a team from a technical and tactical perspective. I want my athletes to be able to make it through 2-3 hour practices 4-5 days/week with a high level of energy, enthusiasm, effort, and encouragement. They need to be in very good general shape (high work capacity) to be able to handle these stresses and recover for them to continue the practice as well as possible.

Here are some other pre-season training guidelines that I like to follow:

1. Emphasize conditioning and work capacity to be able to tolerate a high work load and recover.

2. Emphasize full range of motion work along with soft tissue work.

3. progress from 2 days of impact or non-specific conditioning progressing to 4-5 days of impact or specific conditioning.

4. Figure out your priority and train that piriority.

5. Include team building exercises and activities into training.

6. Prepare the athlete and team for the mental and physical stresses that will occur during the season.

These are just some things to consider when preparing your athletes and teams for the upcoming season once the off-season is over.

B