On a November night, the Highlands High School basketball team takes the court against the toughest team they will play against. The bleachers are full as the game begins. Fans are on the edge of their seats as the ball gets exchanged back and forth between the two teams. When halftime rolls around, the odds do not seem to be in the Bluebirds’ favor, but as the game comes to a close, the Bluebirds make an amazing turnaround for the win.
The off-season for the basketball programs starts in summer with weights and nutrition, as well as team bondings and physical recovery. Coach Shawn Zitt, Highlands Strength & Conditioning Coordinator, is also a huge aspect for the off-season program.
“We do strength and agility with coach Shawn and also shooting and skills with the coaches. I think it’s important to work with Shawn for our strength to make us stronger than our opponents,” Layton Riesenbeck (10) said.
Other basketball players utilize other places to train and to work out.
“I go to NKU and I work out everything–legs, arms, biceps, etcetera–in the gym upstairs after I do training for basketball,” Bishop Strayhorn (9) said.
Some basketball players work on arms as well as running on the treadmill. Others prefer to work on technique and skill.
“We try to focus our attention on legs by doing leg presses as well as doing the Sargent Test to jump higher to dunk and jump to block. We also train arms to improve our offense and defense performance,” Nicholas Stojkovic (9) said.
Basketball players tend to use the Sargent Test not only to test how high they can jump, but also to help them with their offensive and defensive performance. The Sargent Test is a pole that has multiple bars that can be easily moved when touched. Players will stand at the bottom of this stand and do a standing jump and a squat jump to measure.
Even though working out and training is important, keeping the body healthy and filled with nutrients and hydrated is just as important to help prepare in the off-season.
“A huge part of my diet is high protein meals like grilled chicken and meats, peanut butter as well as eggs in the morning before games… I just eat whatever to keep my body full. To keep myself hydrated, I drink lots of Gatorade and liquid IVs before and after games,” Stojkovic (9) said.
Some basketball players’ diets reflect how they perform on the court, as well as their performance at practice and at school. Though some basketball players choose to follow a simple plan, some follow a more in-depth plan.
“My diet consists of a lot of chicken Monday through Thursday. With Friday being my cheat day but mostly I eat protein bars before games as well as protein powder. To stay hydrated I just drink water or gatorade before, during and after games,” Strayhorn (9) said.
Though diet and training is important to making a player ready for games, team bonding is just as important.
“Team bonding is important not only out of practice but also in practice some ways we do a team bonding in practice is just bonding before practice while we stretch talking about our day,” Bailey Richey (9) said.
Team bonding doesn’t just happen outside of practice; it can also happen during practice.
“In the beginning of the season we play a lot of team games like horse and knockout. Those are always really fun as well as just hanging out during/after practice,” Addie Hess (9) said.
Whilst all of that is very important to do during the off-season to prepare for the normal season but physical recovery is just as important.
“After games and practices I like to do an ice bath or use massages on my shoulders and legs as well as just getting sleep as much as I can,” Hess said (9).
According to Mayo Clinic, some of the benefits of ice baths are “Using ice immediately after suffering an acute injury. That’s when it can help reduce swelling and pain. Avoid or minimize icing after the first few days, as ongoing cold therapy may slow healing and delay recovery. Similarly, cold therapy may help to reduce pain and soreness after hard training sessions or during periods of back-to-back competitions.”
Another thing basketball players use to help with their physical recovery is foam rolling. According to Petersen physical therapy, using a foam roll in physical recovery as a localized pain reliever is more targeted than stretching and increases blood flow.
“After games I like to foam roll and sleep as well as eating a high carb meal after games and practice and I also like to use a massager to help make my muscles less stiff,” Bryce Armstrong said (9).
With all this offseason training the Highlands Varsity team is ready to take on their first real game of the season against St. Henry on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
