What Pre-Season Means to an Athlete

If you have never heard the word Pre-Season then you may not know what other words and activities come with it. For the ones who have heard this word, more than likely you have played some kind of sport in your life whether that be in college or high school. From a college perspective the word pre-season is exactly how it sounds. It is the hard strength and conditioning that athletes must do before the season to get into the shape of their life. Let’s go over some of the things that go along with this word.

1.Two In One Day

Some of the athletes know that when it comes to pre-season, you are around your sport constantly and ultimately you love it because your sport is your passion. When it’s pre-season you really learn to love your sport because you are around it sometimes three times in a day. For college athletes it’s prime because we have no classes and all we do is play our sport all day. This can also mean lots of pain and recovery.

2.Ice Baths

Ice baths will be your best friend. There are a lot of theories on if ice baths are good for your muscle recovery but no matter what theories your coach believes in, these ice baths feel like heaven right when you get out of them. However when you are sitting in a tub full of ice and cold water it can feel like your body is not attached to your head. In the end, it is all worth it.

3.Team Bonding

When it comes down to pre-season you are not just around your sport all the time, you are also around your teammates for the whole pre-season. This means lots of team bonding and connecting with your new teammates. This is vital for a team because if you can’t bond off the court you definitely can’t bond on the court.

4.Anticipation For The Season

During pre-season you usually aren’t playing many games against other teams so this gives you the drive and anticipation to play other teams. One of the best parts of preseason if getting hyped up to play your rival. This makes you work harder in practice as well as focus on the skills that you need in order to accomplish the goal of defeating other teams.

5.Building Body, Skills, and Strength

During pre-season you are constantly trying to get your body in the best shape it has ever been in as well as working on specific skills that maybe you didn’t have the last season. Pre-season is one of the best times of the season because you purely get to focus on yourself and what the team needs in order to build your physical and mental strength.