Ryan Chan

Thought basketball was gonna pay me one day…

Now I’m paying league fees, tournament fees, physio and $200 for shoes just to drop 6 points on a Tuesday night 😭🏀

Still worth it though.

Do you know any more ???

What do you think? 🤔

⬇️ MORE IN-DEPTH BREAKDOWN

Sand training can be a great tool for basketball players—but it’s important to understand what it does and doesn’t do.

🏀 1. It’s NOT the same as court speed training
On hardwood, sprinting, cutting and jumping rely heavily on the stretch-shortening cycle. Your muscles and tendons rapidly absorb and release energy to create that spring-like explosiveness.

Sand absorbs more energy and increases ground-contact time, so you don’t get the same elastic response. That’s why sand work shouldn’t replace sprinting, jumping and cutting on firm surfaces.

💪 2. Higher muscular demand
Because you get less energy returned from the ground, your calves, quads, hamstrings and glutes have to work harder to produce movement.

🦶 3. Foot + ankle capacity
The constantly changing surface challenges the muscles of the feet and lower legs in positions you might not experience as much on a perfectly flat court.

🫁 4. Conditioning
Moving through sand requires more effort, making even simple cone drills extremely demanding from a conditioning standpoint.

🧠 5. Coordination + reaction
Adding ladder drills, cones and catching a football gives Maxey another way to challenge coordination and decision-making while moving and fatigued.

☀️ 6. Sometimes getting outside matters too
Basketball players spend countless hours inside gyms. Training outside gives you natural sunlight, fresh air and a completely different environment.

And sometimes training should just be fun.

Sand training isn’t magic and it isn’t perfectly basketball-specific—but that’s okay.

It’s another tool in the toolbox.

Do you know any other ones?

Steal this change of direction workout from Jared McCain and PJF Performance 🏀⚡️

1. Single-Leg Lateral Hops → Plant, Turn & Sprint
2. Reactive Curved Running with Audio Cues

Basketball is rarely played in a straight line. Being able to decelerate, redirect your momentum and explode in a new direction can make you quicker on both ends of the floor.

Save this and try it in your next workout.

Want more freedom on the court? Become a better teammate. 👇

Most players think being a good teammate means high-fives and cheering from the bench.

It goes way deeper than that.

🏀 Celebrate your teammates’ success like it’s your own.

🗣️ Communicate on every possession. Talk on defense, encourage after mistakes, and keep everyone’s confidence up.

🤝 Build relationships outside of basketball. Go grab food after practice, offer someone a ride home, check in on teammates, or organize a team hangout.

👂 Be coachable. Listen more than you complain.

💪 Embrace your role. Every championship team is built on players who do the little things.

⚡ Bring energy every single day. Hustle, dive for loose balls, and make everyone around you better.

When your teammates genuinely like being around you, everything changes.

They’ll encourage you to keep shooting after a miss.

They’ll celebrate your buckets louder.

They’ll trust you with the ball in big moments.

And coaches notice the players who make the locker room better—not just the box score.

Being a great teammate won’t replace skill.

But it will create opportunities that skill alone never could.