Hot Feet WorkoutOver the last few years we have done a lot of different exercises before and after practice to increase stamina and team morale.

For instance we did an incredible amount of work with the Jump Rope program. We had 10 different jumps and we posted it and scored it for each player and they became very efficient with the rope. They all carried ropes around with them in their gym bags that the coaches made from ropes they got at the hardware store.

Did it help?

I believe all my ex-players would tell you that it absolutely did help! We had an All- WCC point guard at Pepperdine University named Ricardo Brown, who was later All-Pro in the Philippines, who was so good at Jump Roping that the other 14 players would stop to watch him make the “rope talk”

We did other things like run up the sand dunes on the Malibu beach. We also did a lot of exercises with weighted vests and weighted ankle weights. We also started practice on Oct 15 with the famous mile run according to their position.

Our staff liked all of the exercises but the one thing I personally liked was the Three Stages of Hot Feet at the end of practice which I still do with my basketball classes at UCSB. You can do this drill in 7 minutes or less and it is a great conditioner and a big morale boost at the end of a practice.

HOT FEET WORKOUT

  1. All players spread out over the gym floor and get in a defensive stance with legs bent and palms up. Now on the whistle they run in place as hard as they can go for 10 seconds. We stop for 10 seconds and rest and go again for 10. We repeat this for 10 repetitions. They clap,yell or whatever during these patter steps.
  2. Immediately after the “hot feet” they lay down on their backs with knees bent and do sit-ups for two (2) minutes.
  3. Immediately after the sit-ups they roll over and do push-up for 30 seconds. Note: On their finger tips if they can. Total time less than 7 minutes. Conditioning is a “home run”
  4. Immediately everyone runs to the center circle at half court and put their hands in the middle and someone counts to three and they yell “Go [Insert Your Mascot]”

I have found that practice always ends on a high note doing this exercise.