Most college basketball (CBB) players won’t even take the time to read this. Odds are, if you’ve clicked on the link, you’re a coach or a fan.

MOST players will make poor choices over the holiday break. FEW will not. Those few will reap the benefits later.

For those that do not know the process, here it is. Once final exams are finished, usually first or second week of December, college basketball players practice, travel, and play throughout the break, which usually lasts about 3-4 weeks. They only get a few days to celebrate the Holidays. This is their time to live like a professional player, something that many players aspire to and CLAIM that they are working toward, but few are willing to stay disciplined enough to achieve.

Here are the primary mistakes that college hoopers will make this Holiday Break.

1. NO CLASS, NO ROUTINE – late nights, late mornings, less rhythm, more groggy, more sleepy, and less focused. Routine can be a good thing. Sloth and negativity tend to creep into an idle mind. KEEP A ROUTINE!
2. PARTY TIME – pretty self explanatory here. Drinking destroys your body. Staying up late destroys your body. Eating fast food destroys your body. If you finished finals week and you’ve got M-F party plans, your game is going to suffer. Priorities. Check out this article about how Drinking effects your performance.
3. “I CAN NAP LATER” – Naps are great, but they don’t replace your normal sleep cycles. Just because you don’t have to get up for class doesn’t mean you should stay up all night. You’re muscles do not recover properly, you become injury prone, your energy levels go down, and your level of alertness come game time will suffer. Do not stay up till 3am now just because you don’t have 8am class. Sleep is your charger. Most of you wouldn’t walk 15 feet out your dorm without a phone charger in your bag. Why would you not want to recharge your body if that’s what is giving you a scholarship. This is something that pros begin to understand very well as they get older and need that sleep just to function. Holiday break is a time to catch up on sleep, not get behind. Check out this article from Fatigue Science.
4. DID NOT IMPROVE – this is a choice, and it largely sums up the other points. If you do not take advantage of your free time, you are falling behind. BREAK SHOULD BE FUN! But if you have goals and dreams of dancing come March, THIS HOLIDAY BREAK SHOULD BE SEEN AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REST, RELAX, and IMPROVE! Get in the gym and master a skill that you’ve been struggling with. Or if you’ve been turning the ball over, go to the gym and do some handling drills. Free throws are another great thing to work on over break. A telltale sign that your team took the holiday break seriously (or not) is when you see the FT% change during that time. It should go up slightly. More time to work…

It’s a simple game. You get out of it what you put in. Those who want it bad enough will be working toward a Championship in March.

You do not plant a tomato seed in the morning and eat tomatoes that night. 

Plant some seeds this break. Feast in March.

If you are a player that happened to read through this entire article, good for you. Shameless plug here… I have some staff and coaches at my company, Master Your Craft, that would love to offer up some advice on how to improve your game over the break if you are willing to invest in that. I personally do performance coaching as well. If interested, click one of the social links below and get in touch with me. We can do sport specific drills, nutrition, sleep, strength & conditioning, and just about anything else you can think of. My people are very good. Or, if you aren’t sure that paying for a 1v1 session is worth your while, you can also reach out and ask questions. We do Q&A’s pretty frequently.

Our goal is simple. We want to help you MASTER YOUR CRAFT. Whatever tools, resources, or advice that you may need. We have it. Click below to contact me.

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