The Offseason: The Road to Next Season's Championship Starts Here

When it comes to fitness, the season is a time for maintenance. The offseason, however, is a time for improvement. In the offseason, mediocre players have the opportunity to become good, and good players have the opportunity to become great. The offseason is where your game goes to the next level. How does this happen? It all begins with an honest assessment of your game and a training program that fits that assessment. Answer a few of these questions and see how well you know your game:

• Can you move backwards as well as you can forwards?
• Can you decelerate your own momentum effectively?
• Can you effectively use your body, effective angles, and the strength that you have to go against an opponent that is bigger than you? Faster than you?
• Can you explode effectively in all directions from a base stance?
• From a stance less ideal than base stance?

The ability to evaluate your game is an integral part of the offseason. Unfortunately, many players, parents, and coaches struggle with this process. In order to be more effective evaluators, we need to be able to come up with a rational and objective analysis of a player’s game. We also need to begin to recognize what we can expect to change and what we can’t over the course of an offseason. Using that knowledge, we can create a training program that will result in optimal long-term development rather than fleeting changes in test data.

We hear from a lot of athletes who want to get stronger, run faster, and jump higher. All of these are good goals, but they tend to be measured in terms of weight room stats, 40-yard dash times, and vertical jump numbers. If we’re looking at developing a body that will allow a player to maximize his or her ability and hold up to the rigors of an upcoming season, we need to take a closer look at the athlete’s actual sport and how useful (or useless) those numbers really are. Being the one of the faster players running a straight line might help a couple of times per game, but what about when you have to stop and change directions? Straight ahead sprinting is probably less than 5% of what an athlete (outside of track of course) needs in terms of speed, but it gets most of the attention when it comes to training. The vertical jump is the same way. How often in a game where jumping is required do you jump in a situation where no one is around you, your feet are wherever is most comfortable, you can jump when you are ready, and you are reaching for a target that doesn’t move?

Our primary objective at T4TG when it comes to athlete development is to establish fundamental movement skills. This means improving a player’s ability to move through space in all directions, adapt to a constant and rapidly changing environment, and doing so with efficiency. Once that base is established we can begin adding elements of strength, power, and explosiveness. Many of the athletes who come to us wanting to jump higher or run faster don’t have a strong foundation and tend to not see a lot of carryover from training exclusively focused on increasing strength or jumping ability. They will, however, adapt very quickly to a program that creates better sports-specific movement and then adds elements of strength and power back in.

Our plan, simplified, looks something like this:

• Emphasize movement skills
  • Layered with:
  • Functional strength
  • Useful agility and power
  • Authentic endurance
  • Skill and Strategy Development

Sometimes it can be hard to see our true limitations because we’ve been conditioned to assume that we already know the formula for athletic success. At T4TG, we'll help you recognize the limitations in your functional sphere and work to patch those up, but, more importantly, we'll find all the ways in which your body and game are really great and build on your success so you can enter your upcoming season at your best.

So, what exactly does it take to be the best? We asked current University of Texas assistant basketball strength and conditioning coach and former Train 4 The Game coach, Logan Schwartz to describe NBA Star, Kevin Durant’s summer training program. KD will travel back to Austin, TX this summer to complete classes towards his degree while he trains with current Texas basketball and other NBA players. KD will begin his day on the court at 7:00 am working on basketball skills. This is followed immediately by the weight room, classes and then pick up games. His training in the weight room will look different than most other players of his caliber. Judging by his accomplishments to this point, different is GOOD. Kevin’s workouts will include vertical core training and exercises such as squat matrix, lunge matrix, pivot matrix, Olympic lifting, pull-up matrix, push-up matrix, med-ball throws, sandbag slams, keiser rows, leap to dunk matrix, jump to dunk matrix, and yes... even some bench press. These exercise matrices will allow Kevin to train in all three planes of motion, which is exactly how he needs to be able to move on the court. It is also during this time that KD will improve his movements by doing anterior, posterior and lateral jumping, hopping, leaping, skipping, shuffling and sprinting. During this summer’s training, KD’s coaches will put him in every position he may ever encounter while playing his game. This way, he should be able to move or react to each game situation with confidence and without injury. This is the way an athlete should train: hard, consistently, and above all, smart.

How can you get your body to experience the same high quality workouts that Kevin Durant will encounter this summer? Participate in our summer training camps, and you’ll be well on your way. Once you step foot into our facility you will be greeted with dedicated performance specialists who will spend 1 hour and 30 minutes, 3-5 times a week training and preparing your mind and body for athletic success as they put you through lunge matrix, squat matrix, push-up matrix, sandbag slams, multi-directional leaps, hops, jumps, shuffles and so much more (any of that sound familiar???). At Train 4 The Game we want you to excel, challenge your body and DOMINATE the sport you love to play. This summer is your chance to make that happen.

Do you want to train like a champion? Remember, this is your summer, your game, and your chance to amaze your body, your coaches, your teammates and yourself like never before.

GAME ON.  *Sections included written by Angela McDonald and Veronica Rodriguez