— TRAINING SESSION

Pre-Season Conditioning (U16+)

Block and Bank · 57 minutes · 7 drills · Generated 13 May 2026

Age group: U16
Focus: Conditioning
Duration: 57 minutes
Drills: 7

First week back. Brutal but earned. Sets the fitness baseline for the season. Pair with intentional recovery.

7DRILLS

57MINUTES

8AVG / DRILL

1 Passing Lines Warm-Up

5 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

Pairs, 5 metres apart. 20 chest passes, 20 bounce passes, 20 overhead passes, 20 one-handed push passes (10 each hand).

Fundamentals warm-up every coach should run every practice. Countless turnovers prevented.

Coaching points

Step into every pass.
Fingertips on follow-through.
Receive with both hands, fingers spread.
Bounce passes: 2/3 of the way to your partner.
Overhead passes: snap wrists, from the forehead.

2 Court Width 17s

8 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

Sprint baseline-to-baseline across the WIDTH (sideline to sideline). Target: 17 widths in 60 seconds. College-team benchmark.

Best test of basketball-specific cardio. Hit 17 and you're game-ready.

Coaching points

Touch every sideline with a hand.
Low on the turns.
Push the last 10 seconds, that's where it hurts.
Don't slow on the back half.
Know your number, chase a PB.

3 Lines Conditioner

10 min Difficulty: Intermediate Age: u14 Court: Full

Players start on the baseline. Sprint to free-throw line and back, half-court and back, far free-throw line and back, full-court and back. Touch every line with a hand. Track times.

Classic basketball conditioner. Builds anaerobic capacity and mental toughness.

Coaching points

• Touch every line with a hand — no shortcuts
• Plant on the line, don't run through it
• Stay low on the change of direction
• Push through the second half — that's where conditioning is built
• Times posted on the wall = motivation

4 Conditioning Triangle

8 min Difficulty: Intermediate Age: u14 Court: Half

Three cones in a triangle, 10 metres apart. Defensive slides between cones 1 and 2, sprint between 2 and 3, backpedal between 3 and 1. Repeat 5 times.

Full-body conditioning that mimics game movement: forward, lateral, backward.

Coaching points

Touch every cone with a hand.
Stay low on slides.
Full sprint, don't pace.
Backpedal with arms swinging.
Maintain pace across all 5 sets.

5 Continuous Scoring

12 min Difficulty: Intermediate Age: u14 Court: Half

Player at the free throw line. Coach calls a move: drive left layup, drive right layup, pull-up jumper, step-back three. Execute. Sprint back. 60 seconds. Count makes.

Variety scoring under fatigue. The all-in-one demand of game offence.

Coaching points

React fast, first move on the call.
Quality moves, not random.
Finish all the way through.
Sprint back, don't jog.
Know your PB, chase it.

6 Touch the Lines

8 min Difficulty: Intermediate Age: u12 Court: Full

Players on baseline. Coach calls a line ('half-court!', 'free throw!', 'three-point!'); players sprint, touch with hand, sprint back. Random order.

Reaction-based conditioning. Builds explosive change of direction.

Coaching points

React fast, first step matters.
Touch with a hand, no cheating.
Low on the turn.
Return HARDER than you went out.
Listen actively, don't drift.

7 Cool Down Routine

6 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

End-of-practice: 30 seconds each, toe touches, quad stretch, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, lunge stretch, cobra back stretch, shoulder rolls. Total 4 minutes.

Most coaches skip it. Don't. Recovery starts here. Players who stretch consistently miss less practice from soreness.

Coaching points

Slow movements, no bouncing.
Breathe, exhale on stretch.
Don't push through pain, just to the edge.
Hold each stretch.
Debrief while stretching: what worked today?

Note: Generous, recovery matters