3 Common Off-Season Mistakes
Not taking time to recover from the season – Take a week or two away from structured training and allow yourself to have to recover from the season. Doing activities that you weren’t able to such as going for a bush walks or going to play basketball will allow you to still stay active while taking a mental break from the sport you play.
Also use this time in the gym to play around with movements you normally wouldn’t, incorporating dumbbells is also a great way to take the load off your joints.
– Not attending to your niggles – Sitting around and not addressing the niggles you picked up during the season may lead to you taking these same issues into the next season. While taking a couple of weeks break may help in having these niggles go away, getting them checked out by a professional may be needed to help you be ready in getting prepared for the next season.
– Not using time wisely to work on improving your weaknesses – The off-season provides you a great opportunity to work on, not only your physical weaknesses but also your tactical weaknesses.
For instance, if you find your speed isn’t up to scratch it would be wise to find a suitable coach to help you improve this. This time is also a great opportunity to improve your body composition for your sport, whether that is increasing your muscle mass or dropping body fat to help you better perform in your next season. Using this time in improving your weaknesses.
Also if you wait until the pre-season come around to start working on yor weaknesses, this iis a recipe for disaster. This leads to an increased injury risk as your muscles may not have the capacity to tolerate the increased load that pre-season will naturally cause.