Training Seasonality: A Basketball Case Study - Part 2

All avid basketball fans will be aware that August/September marks the beginning of pre-season for professional basketball here in the UK. As the season approaches, players are gearing up to showcase their skills on the court, ensuring they are physically and mentally prepared for the high-intensity and considerable demands that the sport places on the body. This is a crucial period of preparation to build strength, endurance, and agility to minimise injury risk and optimise performance.

This article explores the key practices relevant specifically to basketball, although many of the core principles apply across a variety of sports. Basketball is a high-intensity, contact sport that requires a unique combination of physical qualities. Explosive movements, quick changes of direction, repetitive jumping and sprinting place considerable stress on the musculoskeletal system. These dynamic demands increase the risk of both acute injuries, such as ankle sprains, ligament tears, and fractures, as well as chronic conditions like patellar tendinopathy, stress fractures, and lower back pain.

A carefully structured pre-season programme aims to reduce these risks through a multifaceted approach to physical and neuromuscular preparation.

Screening and Assessments

Pre-season begins with comprehensive screening, where clubs evaluate each player’s medical history, previous injuries, and any current imbalances or weaknesses that may predispose them to injury or illness.

Medical screening typically includes questions about cardiovascular and respiratory health, family history of disease, and any known medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or liver/kidney disorders. Abnormal findings can lead to further investigations—such as ECGs or blood tests—to identify any red flags that must be managed throughout the season.

Flagging up previous injuries prompts further assessment by the club physiotherapy or sports medicine team. For example, an athlete with a history of ACL injury may undergo strength testing, jump-landing analysis, or hop testing to identify asymmetries or lingering deficits. These findings form the basis for individualised pre-season training or rehab interventions.

In addition to medical history and previous injuries, fitness testing and functional movement screening are vital. Tools such as the Y-Balance Test, Functional Movement Screen (FMS), or countermovement jump testing can highlight mobility restrictions, poor movement control, or side-to-side imbalances. These may not yet be symptomatic but can still increase injury risk when load intensifies.

For athletes not affiliated with professional teams, we strongly encourage booking a pre-season screening session with a physiotherapist or sports rehab specialist. Early identification of risk factors is key to long-term health and performance.

Strength and Conditioning

The off-season is the time to build raw strength. As players transition into pre-season, the focus should shift to maintaining strength while improving power, dynamic control, and sport-specific endurance.

Functional training should mimic the biomechanical demands of basketball. Exercises targeting the hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, and calf complex are essential to protect the knees and ankles, absorb ground reaction forces, and support dynamic movement. Classic compound lifts—such as squats, Romanian deadlifts, and lunges—lay a foundation for lower limb resilience and explosiveness.

Plyometric exercises, such as box jumps, depth jumps, and lateral bounds, are critical during pre-season. These drills enhance neuromuscular responsiveness and prepare the body for the repetitive jumping and landing involved in rebounding, shot-blocking, and attacking the basket.

Don’t neglect the upper body. Push-ups, overhead presses, pull-ups, and banded rows build shoulder stability, which is vital for shooting mechanics, passing accuracy, and injury prevention. Incorporating medicine ball throws and resistance band work can further develop trunk rotation strength and explosive pushing actions.

Finally, core strength should be integrated into all phases of training. A strong core enhances balance, force transfer, and movement efficiency. Exercises such as planks, dead bugs, anti-rotation presses, and cable lifts support better postural control, reducing back pain and improving performance.

Conditioning and Energy System Development

As basketball involves repeated short bursts of high-intensity efforts with brief recovery periods, anaerobic power and aerobic recovery capacity are essential. Pre-season should develop both.

Anaerobic conditioning: Incorporate repeated sprint drills (e.g. 6×30m with 30s rest), shuttle runs, and high-intensity circuits. These drills replicate the intermittent, stop-start nature of a basketball game.

Aerobic conditioning: Maintain aerobic base with steady-state running, off-court tempo sessions (e.g. cycling or swimming), or small-sided games to improve work capacity.

Monitoring fatigue during this phase is vital. Pre-season is a time of high training volumes and intensities, which means athletes are at increased risk of overreaching or overtraining if recovery is insufficient. Excessive training without adequate rest not only hampers performance gains but significantly increases the likelihood of overuse injuries such as tendinopathies, bone stress injuries, and muscular strains. Monitoring tools allow coaches and clinicians to identify when an athlete is approaching physical or mental burnout before symptoms escalate into injury or illness.

One widely used method is the Session Rate of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) scale, which asks athletes to subjectively rate the difficulty of each training session, typically on a 0–10 scale. This score is then multiplied by the session duration to calculate internal training load. Tracking sRPE over time helps identify spikes in load that may exceed an athlete’s current tolerance—known as Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR)—a key predictor of injury risk.

In addition, daily or weekly wellness questionnaires that assess sleep quality, mood, energy levels, muscle soreness, and stress can provide valuable insight into an athlete’s recovery status. For example, a consistent drop in mood or sleep quality might indicate an accumulating training load or the onset of illness or fatigue-related breakdown.

In professional settings, some teams may also use objective tools like heart rate variability (HRV), jump testing, or grip strength monitoring to assess neuromuscular readiness. While these technologies are valuable, subjective tools are low-cost, reliable, and effective when used consistently.

Ultimately, regular fatigue monitoring allows coaches, S&C professionals, and physiotherapists to adjust training plans in real time, promoting sustainable progress while minimising the risk of breakdown during this demanding period.

Recovery and Injury Prevention Strategies

Recovery must be prioritised throughout pre-season to allow for adaptation, improve performance, and minimise injury risk. Without adequate recovery, athletes may experience cumulative fatigue, reduced neuromuscular control, and a higher likelihood of overuse injuries. At a foundational level, ensuring 7–9 hours of quality sleep, proper hydration, and a balanced, nutrient-dense diet provides the physiological basis for repair and regeneration.

Beyond the basics, incorporating targeted recovery strategies can enhance muscle recovery and tissue health. These include:

• Foam rolling and mobility work, particularly for high-load muscle groups such as the hips, quadriceps, and calves
• Contrast baths or cold-water immersion following intense sessions to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation
• Massage therapy or dry needling to release trigger points and promote blood flow
• Active recovery sessions, like swimming, yoga, or light cycling, to increase circulation and aid recovery without adding further mechanical load

Equally important are injury prevention programs that include neuromuscular training such as balance work, proprioceptive drills, and landing mechanics. These interventions have been proven to significantly reduce lower limb injury rates, especially ACL injuries, and should be integrated into warm-up routines at least twice per week to be effective.

Conclusion 

Pre-season is not just a warm-up for the year ahead—it is a critical opportunity to build strength, optimise performance, and prevent injury. A structured, evidence-based approach that includes screening, functional training, sport-specific conditioning, and recovery ensures that athletes are physically prepared and resilient heading into the season.

Whether you are part of a professional squad or an amateur team, investing in your pre-season preparation with the help of qualified physiotherapists and strength specialists can give you a lasting edge.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is meant as a guide. If you are unsure of how to perform any of the aspects detailed here, please seek advice from a professional who can guide you. All of our physiotherapists or strength and conditioning coaches here at the White House Clinic would be happy to assist.

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