In-Season Basketball Training: Finding Training Opportunities During a Packed Schedule

In-season basketball is pure chaos.

Games. Travel. Shootarounds. Recovery. Media. More games. For strength and conditioning coaches, the idea of a consistent, structured lifting schedule is more fantasy than reality.

But here’s the truth: performance doesn’t care about your schedule.
It cares about preparation — and preparation doesn’t stop when the season starts.

If anything, it becomes more important.

That’s why at Iron Performance Center and with the Niagara River Lions, we’ve built a system that leans into the unpredictability of pro basketball. We don’t just try to survive the season — we stay proactive. From early morning lifts to band circuits 15 minutes before tipoff, we hunt every possible window to train, prime, and reinforce performance.

Performance Windows Are Rare — So We Create Them

You can't afford to wait for the perfect moment. It doesn’t exist in-season.

What you can do is stay adaptable, keep your system flexible, and be relentless about finding ways to sneak in value. That means being okay with short sessions. It means shifting your mindset from "training" to "dosing." And it means having the humility to let go of rigid plans in favour of what your athletes need right now.

This isn’t about checking a box. It’s about keeping athletes sharp — neurologically, mentally, and physically — even when time is tight.

Game Day Flow: Creating Intentional Chaos

Game day doesn’t mean we shut things down. In fact, we treat it as one of our most valuable opportunities to introduce targeted, high-impact work.

Every movement, every drill, every set has a purpose.

Here’s a breakdown of what our pre-tipoff workflow looks like:

60–75 Minutes Before Tipoff: Precision Priming

At this point, players are moving from mental prep into physical activation. The goal? Turn the system on without tipping the fatigue scale.

1. Force Deck Jumps
   We use Countermovement Jump (CMJ) testing to monitor neuromuscular readiness. Height, impulse, RSI-mod, and asymmetry trends give us a real-time snapshot of how an athlete is showing up today. This helps us spot fatigue, gauge travel recovery, and inform the rest of the day’s approach.
2. Band-Based Potentiation Circuits
   Short, powerful, and joint-friendly. These circuits are designed to increase neural drive without leaving players smoked. Think of it as “flipping the switch”.

Some of our go-to movements:

• Banded Unilateral Full ROM Work — Low-impact joint prep with dynamic planes of motion.
• Banded Overcoming Isometrics — Max neural output with minimal eccentric cost.
• Banded Chaos Anti-Rotation Presses — Reflexive core activation with unpredictable resistance.

This isn’t a "lift" — it’s a wake-up call for the nervous system.

3. Individualized Prep Based on Playing Time
   We break athletes into buckets:

• High-Minute = 12+ minutes per game
• Low-Minute = under 12 minutes

High-minute guys may need lighter prep — mobility, nervous system primers, or even guided breathwork. Low-minute guys often need the opposite: targeted volume, CNS activation, and work that bridges the gap between training and playing.

Why the Band Circuit Matters

Let’s be honest — time is a luxury during the season. On game day, efficiency is king.

Resistance bands allow us to:

• Train multiple planes
• Hit high neural intensities
• Keep fatigue low
• Stay mobile and reactive

They’re portable, fast, and adaptable — which makes them ideal for a chaotic game-day environment.

Plus, from a sports science lens, we can use band work to manipulate force vectors, adjust intent, and target specific energy systems. Whether we’re stimulating power output or maintaining tendon stiffness, bands give us a surgical tool to do it without risking overload.

Force Decks: Readiness Meets Real-Time Strategy