Scobel Wiggins Photography

I hardly do anything in the off-season. I used to play a fair amount of Badminton at my gym (the WAC), but I haven't played in years. Normally I simply watch all the college basketball that I can, keep some bartenders in business, and wait for April.

When I do set about getting in shape to be in shape, it's usually aerobic for the first two weeks. The campus loop at UNCW is 2.9 miles. I run that everyday for two weeks, shaving time off each run. The last half-mile of the loop runs parallel with College Road—it's flat and straight and where the mental game creeps in—you can see the stop sign from around 400m. After each loop run, I'll take four very slow laps around the track with a mouthful of water. I rarely stretch before or after. When the two weeks are done, I spend the third week sprinting up a hill downtown, adjacent to the river: three 10 minutes sets, resting for about 3 minutes in between each set, every other day.

I've never been a tremendous fan of the track workout, or working out on a track for that matter—ultimate players change directions at high rates of speed. Running 400s is about the only "workout" I've found useful. Set down ten 400s in a row, jogging a lap after the first five and half a lap for the remaining ones. Obviously your endurance is going to improve, and your stamina, but you certainly can't discount your brain overcoming the elephant in the infield.

Can't say I'm big about lifting weights either. The only consistent weight work I've ever done was to take 3/4 or half the total weight I can bench and bench it for one minute: 5 sets, three mintues rest in between, Mondays and Fridays. Pre-season and in-season, I try and do a push-up workout everday: 10 push-ups every minute for ten minutes. This leaves about 45 seconds before the next ten. At some point in the season, begin with 20 and drop down one with each minute; and after the last ten, try and stay in the up postion: no swaybacks.

Some other things that I have found useful to work on specific attributes:

Quickness: Agility ladder, skipping rope.

Explosiveness: Figure 8 agility drill. Cones at 5, 10, 15 yards.

Endurance/Recovery Time: I steal straight from Anson Dorrance. 120s (that's back line to back line). Ten 120s. Down in 18, back in 30, rest for 30. Once a week for eight weeks. And then later, CONES (refer to ADs book)—probably the most grueling thing I've ever attempted, and I'm far beyond my twenties.

Durability: There must be some sweet science to maintaining one's durability. One play gone awry can make you less than durable. I felt great going into 2005's Potlatch, then Sammy CK landed on me only because he was playing good defense. Later at Chesapeake, I suffered fractured sesamoids and while my conditioning wasn't affected, the season-long grind became the issue. Perhaps it's a matter of being smart about the little injuries and resigning yourself to the reality that at some point you're going to have to play hurt, so dig in. Cortisone shots for severe plantar problems prior to Heilbronn in 2000 could be at the top of the all-time dumb list.

Strength: "I a small/but I am strong/I'll get it on with you," or for that matter, "Stand til all the boys fall."

How should teams warm-up prior to games? I've been discussing this question recently via email with Kris Bass. Personally, I believe the popular pre-game warm-up routines at tournaments are overdone. Touches, cardio, chalk. Thus allowing yourself a bit later to sleep, or maybe longer to eat and digest. I'm not sure I have an answer that I'm cool with right now. It does seem that every team under the sun does the same endzone drill and same plyo-like warmup and nearly right on cue brings in to cheer about something.