Dude you actually think I am making this shit up.
Managing Long-Term Player Fatigue, by Thomas Emma
From the Coach’s Clipboard
Basketball Playbook, @
http://www.coachesclipboard.net
Tom Emma was a graduate of Duke University, where he was a three-year basketball starter and captain his senior year, and was later drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1983. He held a Masters degree from Columbia University, and specialized in sports conditioning. He was the owner of Power Performance, Inc. and published several books, including "101 Strength and Conditioning Exercises & Drills for Basketball", "Peak Conditioning Training for Basketball" and "Peak Conditioning Training for Young Athletes".
Tom also authored several other articles on this web-site. I appreciate this excellent article that Tom has contributed to the web-site. Sadly (after the original posting of this article), Tom died on June 8, 2011... Coach Gels.
One of the most important (and difficult) aspects of a basketball coach's job is managing long-term player fatigue. This type of fatigue, unlike being winded during a game or practice session, describes the cumulative effects of a basketball season on a player's body. It is a subtle performance inhibitor, hard to recognize by even the most discerning of eyes, and is inevitably debilitating to individual and team success.
Ascertaining how a player feels physically at a given point in time over the course of a long, grueling basketball season is far from an exact science. In fact, it qualifies much more as an art, requiring coaches to develop an intuitive feel for players' physical capabilities and recovery needs.
And to make matters more complicated, every player is distinctly unique when it comes to recovery requirements; some recover quickly from even the most intense physical demands, while others need substantial rest periods to be ready to go at 100% capacity after hard exertion. Most are somewhere in-between this broad continuum.
Once coaches become comfortable with their players' physical tolerance levels they must then proceed to act accordingly. Unfortunately, what it is to act accordingly isn't always so clear-cut. For instance, one way to assuage an overly tired and worn down player is to cut his or her playing time. But what if an important game with post-season ramifications is in the balance and said player is your leading scorer or rebounder?
Bench time for the player may help avoid long-term fatigue down the road, but will it help win the game today? This scenario illustrates just how complicated dealing with long-term player fatigue is. Do everything to win the game? Or rest the player for future battles? Tough choice to say the least.
Despite the challenges, long-term player fatigue can be dealt with effectively and often avoided all together, by employing a series of proven strategies. Below, after the major warning signs of long-term player fatigue are listed, these strategies are explained in detail.
Warning Signs of Long-Term Player Fatigue
- Consistently short on shots.
- Late game performance meltdowns
- Substantially lower free throw percentage, especially late in games
- Missed defensive assignments due to lack of concentration
- Laboring up and down court
- Regularly asking out of games
- Lack of enthusiasm for practices and conditioning workouts
- Preponderance of minor injuries
- Complaints of excess soreness in muscles and joints
- Noticeable loss in weight room strength (keep in mind, it’s normal to lose some strength during the basketball season)
- Insomnia
Early Recognition
The first and most crucial step in preventing long-term fatigue among players is early recognition. Once long-term fatigue sets in, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to shake without extensive rest, which as we all know, is a luxury not afforded to players during the busy basketball season.
As such, it is imperative for coaches to be hyper-vigilant in watching for signs of long-term fatigue in players (see signs above). As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Recognizing the symptoms of long-term fatigue early will allow coaches to respond before the problem becomes chronic.
