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Basketball Conditioning

Endurance, strengthening, stretching and flexibility, all important for any aerobic sport.

From the Coach's Clipboard Basketball Playbook

Why do conditioning?

"Don't play sports to get into shape. Get into shape to play sports." - unknown

Endurance, strengthening, stretching and flexibility all are important parts of playing any aerobic type sport such as basketball. Close games are won late in the game often by the team with the best physical conditioning. When you are tired, your shots come up short, you miss your free-throws, your defense, hustle and rebounding suffer... and these are the things that win games.

If you are a quick, full-court pressing and fast-breaking team, you must be in top physical condition and you can win against more talented teams by pushing them to their point of fatigue.

Ideally, the conditioning process should begin before the season starts, as each serious-minded player should come to the first practice already having begun his/her conditioning at home a couple weeks before practices begin. A home program can involve stretching exercises, home strengthening exercises, running distances and sprints and jumping rope (good for foot speed, coordination and endurance).

Below I've laid out a typical high school 6 weeks pre-season conditioning program.

Once practices start, use a program of stretching, followed by running drills that stress aerobic conditioning. Finish with strengthening exercises or weight room work-out (two or three days a week). Players are stronger these days and this translates into confident, athletic teams that can rely on their strong rebounding, defense, and hustle to win many games.

Mental training... mental quickness, making good decisions during games, basketball IQ, seeing the floor, court sense... up until now, coaches have thought that these things were just something you were born with, like a "gift"... not something you could actually teach or learn. This is all changing now. See Basketball Mental Aspects

Alan Stein's Elite Athlete Training

Alan Stein is an elite Professional Basketball Strength Coach and Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for DeMatha Catholic High School. He stresses that being fit and being in basketball shape are two completely different concepts.

Alan Stein

Since the game of basketball is fast paced, intense and provides very few rest breaks - your team's conditioning workouts should reflect this. Additionally, basketball is very movement-specific, so it is important to have players' include sprinting, back pedaling, defensive sliding and jumping in their workouts.

To keep the workouts fresh, innovative and on the cutting edge, Coach Stein incorporates a variety of audio and visual cues that help improve a player's ability to read and react. The drills shared in his DVDs are fun, interactive and competitive.

In addition, each of these drills can be done for a desired time or a certain number of reps, and many of the drills can be done just about anywhere, which is of great value for coaches with limited court availability. Many of these drills are basketball-specific and will help your team improve moving without the ball, defensive positioning and rebounding, etc.

See: Alan Stein's Basketball Training Drills (with video clips)

Basketball-Specific Conditioning Ideas

Many teams run sprints ("gut busters", or whatever you like to call them). However, I believe that it is better to run specific conditioning drills using a ball, rather than just running sprints. If you are going to make your players run, have then do it with a ball... speed dribbling, dribbling moves, full court defense 1-on-1, etc.

There are a number of great drills that combine conditioning and specific skills. When you do these drills, your players will get tired quickly. When they are tired, let them catch their breath by having them shoot free-throws or work on shooting form to simulate the fatigue that occurs in a game situation. But be sure to start your practice with stretching exercises first, to enhance flexibility and avoid injuries.

Below is a list of drills that are all excellent for aerobic conditioning as well as developing a specific skill. If you use the 3-man weave, the "piston" and "pitch 'n fire" drills, 4-on-4 transition, and the full-court dribbling drills, your players will definitely get an aerobic workout, and if you run some of these drills every practice, your conditioning will be much better.

You can vary the drills from practice to practice. Make sure all drills are run with intensity and speed, no "dogging it". If you feel the team is loafing, stop the drill and as "punishment" (or motivation) have them each take a ball and speed dribble back and forth full-court several times (down with left hand, back with right hand). But don't go overboard... follow a high intensity aerobic drill with free-throw shooting or some other less aerobic drill, or even a "time-out", which simulates the rest in a game situation, to discuss or demonstrate some concepts of your offense, defense, etc.

Also, when using competitive drills (where the losing team has to run a few sprints), instead of just running sprints, always have them take a ball with them and speed dribble back and forth, so they are working on dribbling as well as conditioning and their "punishment" (motivation).

Conditioning Drills

Defensive:

Dribbling: (do the full-court speed-dribbling exercise mentioned above)

Passing:

Transition Offense/Defense:

Typical High School Basketball Conditioning Program

Use a 6 week preseason progression, then maintain conditioning during the season. The goal is to develop basketball-specific speed, repeated sprint ability, strength, agility, and recovery—not simply to make players run long distances.

General guidelines

Begin every session with 8–12 minutes of dynamic movement: jogging, skips, lunges, hip mobility, defensive slides, and closeouts.
Increase volume gradually during the first two weeks.
Keep most conditioning basketball-specific and competitive.
Schedule at least one full recovery day each week.
Monitor heat, hydration, soreness, sleep, and unusual fatigue.
Stop training for dizziness, chest pain, confusion, severe cramping, or other concerning symptoms, and follow your school's athletic-training procedures.

Weekly preseason outline

Weeks 1–2: Movement and work-capacity foundation
3 conditioning sessions per week

Sample session:

Dynamic warm-up — 10 minutes
Running mechanics and acceleration — 8 minutes
- 6 × 10-yard accelerations
- 4 × 20-yard accelerations
Court movement — 12 minutes
- Defensive slides
- Closeout and retreat
- Back pedal-to-sprint
Basketball conditioning — 15 minutes
- Pass-and-cut continuous drill
- 3-man weave
- Controlled transition drills
Strength circuit — 15–20 minutes
- Squats or split squats
- Push-ups
- Rows or band pulls
- Glute bridges
- Plank variations
Cool-down and mobility — 5 minutes

Keep intensity moderate. Emphasize technique and proper landing, stopping, and change-of-direction mechanics.

Weeks 3–4: Speed, agility, and repeated efforts
3–4 conditioning sessions per week

Sample work:

6–8 × 15-yard sprints, with full recovery
5–6 repetitions of:
- Baseline-to-free-throw line and back
- Baseline-to-opposite free-throw line and back
- Baseline-to-half-court and back
4–6 repetitions of a 10–15 second high-intensity basketball action, followed by 30–45 seconds of recovery
4-on-4 or 5-on-5 transition games with short work intervals
Agility patterns emphasizing:
- Sprint-to-stop
- Lateral shuffle
- Change of direction
- Closeout and recovery

At this stage, players should be working hard but still maintaining quality movement and decision-making.

Weeks 5–6: Game-specific conditioning
Shift more of the conditioning into competitive basketball drills.

Examples:

Advantage transition: 3-on-2 continuous
Press and press-break: 5-on-5 in short, intense segments
Shell defense to transition: defensive possession followed immediately by a fast break
Conversion drills: sprint from offense to defense, communicate, then rebound
Short-sided games: 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 with constraints such as required transition, defensive stops, or time limits

A useful format is:

20–30 seconds of intense play
40–60 seconds of recovery
6–10 repetitions
2–3 minutes between sets

This teaches players to recover while making basketball decisions under fatigue.

Strength and injury-prevention work

Include 2–3 sessions per week, preferably after skill work or on separate days.

Prioritize:

Bodyweight squats and split squats
Lunges
Romanian deadlift pattern with light resistance
Calf raises
Push-ups and rows
Planks and side planks
Single-leg balance
Landing and deceleration technique
Shoulder and hip mobility

Use qualified supervision, especially when teaching weight lifting. Young athletes should focus on sound technique and controlled progression rather than maximum lifts.

In-season maintenance

During the season, reduce volume but retain intensity:

One short conditioning session per week
Two brief strength-maintenance sessions
Use practice drills, transition work, and scrimmages for much of the conditioning.
Avoid exhausting conditioning immediately before games.
After a game, tournament, or unusually demanding practice, emphasize recovery rather than adding extra running.

A sample in-season maintenance session:

Dynamic warm-up — 8 minutes
4 × 15-yard accelerations
4 × 15-second transition intervals
10 minutes of competitive small-sided play
15 minutes of strength maintenance
Mobility and recovery — 5 minutes

Track player fatigue and adjust the workload. Over-training can reduce stamina and increase injury risk.

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