Hi I'm a high school player and my season is coming up soon I've been trying to prepare but I have one question... Is it better to condition like crazy or get to some courts and start practicing my shots? When I condition I jumprope for 20 min or so, plyo jumps and plyo pushups and then some abs. I would try to go down to nearby courts, but its kind of far, and I don't usually have a car to drive, so i'd make it down there 1 or 2 days (maybe 3 if im lucky) a week. In your opinion, what is a better use of my time? My season starts in late February, if that helps. Also, if you say i should condition, is there anything more i can do at home? Thanks in advance
Do a lot more shadow plays when you are not on the courts. The ability to move faster and better anticipation will help a lot.
Plyometric jumps are useless after 20 minutes of jump rope. When you are fatigued, your muscles and nervous system are too fatigued to elicit the training effect you get when you are fresh. Anyhow, skill training is extremely important; a more skilled player will beat a more fit player most of the time. Keep in mind that most drills will have a conditioning aspect to them. Running around the court for 20 minutes will condition you just as much as 20 minutes of jump rope, except you also learn footwork, positioning, strokes, etc.
but when two roughly equal skilled players are considered, the more "fit" one will win. in my opinion, equal skills are very forgiving nowadays, every player knows what options are there when a shot is present, they may or may not execute their plans perfectly, but the effort between returning a perfect high clear and a good clear will not be as important as your physical condition. you can't go wrong with working up cardio.
Agreed and not forgetting 'anticipation'. Again its shadow plays work your shadow plays until you are out.
Yes, when skill is approximately even, the fitter player will win. However, consider how a relatively unfit player with high technical proficiency plays against a very fit player with poorer skills: the fitter player simply ends up running more because of the superior shot placement and selection of the more skillful player. That's why I recommend work on skill development for most players.
