Lift Off, the Dallas Heroes Basketball Academy (DHBA) Performance Training and Nutrition Education program, is designed to turn talented young athletes into elite, well-rounded basketball players. The mastery of basic movements and skills training is combined with the understanding and application of nutrition needs for optimal on-court and in-school performance – the keys to this program’s success. Quarterly performance testing gives athletes and their families specific goals to achieve. The goal is to help young athletes become the most well-rounded, determined and healthy individuals and basketball players possible. Developing an explosive athlete starts with the DHBA Lift Off program!
Training
The DHBA Performance Training protocols are derived from our on-court skills and development program, injury prevention methodologies and functional movement patterns, as well as a yearly periodization schedule.
Athletes benefit from training programs more when they understand why movements are being performed and how each movement will increase on-court performance. Special care is taken in using strength training to reinforce what is being taught during skills sessions, both in movement and terminology. A squat is just a squat until it is defined as a defensive stance or as the basis for most movements on the basketball court.
Utilizing this type of communication will help ensure that young athletes (grades 8 and under) will learn at an early age why they need to care for and strengthen their body for future success in basketball and life. The periodization schedule is a way of breaking the year into four distinct stages of training to maximize training time between seasons and ensure athletes are not over-trained during the seasons. This schedule also helps transition athletes into advanced levels of performance training throughout the years as they grow from adolescence into adulthood.
The goal is to continuously strengthen each athlete as they grow and change so they can perform on the court to the best of their abilities with a reduced risk for injury.
Nutrition
The Dallas Heroes Basketball Academy Nutrition and Supplementation protocols are derived from basic fundamentals. Nutrition, much like basketball, is learned through the mastery of key fundamentals, comprised of three basic elements: proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
These three elements must be learned and used properly for success. If one step is missing, an athlete will miss scoring opportunities, lose the ball or even lose the game. The better a player’s conditioning, the easier it is to play through long, tough games.
Nutritional conditioning comes from proper timing of food intake so a player is fueled and hydrated to take advantage of their conditioning during play. Food should be enjoyed and respected as an essential part of life and also as the essential fuel needed to perform at the highest levels of competition. High-caliber athletes must have the best fuel they can get for optimal performance.
