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Apr 18

NBA players will need a gradual return, according to former Celtics fitness coach – Boston Herald

NBA trainers and strength coaches have a strange kind of balance to maintain during this COVID-19 shutdown.

They coach and encourage their charges remotely, and try to set up a framework for a return to action at an unknown time that wont hit these finely-tuned athletes with too much activity at once.

Bryan Doo, who left the Celtics in 2017 after a 14-year run as the teams strength and fitness coach to focus on the growth of his private company, Optimal Fitness, believes a gradual ramp-up will be best for all concerned once the NBA sends out the call.

The thing we dont think about is how great these guys are as athletes. Theyve been going since AAU, so its not necessarily a huge bad thing that they get a rest, Doo said this week. In the grand scheme of things I think these guys are such great athletes, they can adjust until its time to go back and play games.

What I think will happen is that teams will go deeper in their benches, so guys dont play as many minutes. Thats what I would do.

And Doo believes his former team and coachs style of rotating players is especially conducive to what will be needed at this unorthodox time.

It kind of works to Brads system, right? Doo said of Brad Stevens, and the Celtics coachs tendency to go deep into his bench during the most normal of times.

Brads very aware of what the staff is telling him, said Doo. He can tell when guys are getting too much work or whatever. He trusts the staff really well. Thats one thing I really appreciate about Brad is that he just trusts us to tell him what we need. Brads ego isnt there. Im good at basketball coaching, but lets let the professionals do what they do.

Thats what I loved about Brad. Lets get the most guys the most experience, the most conditioning and the most resting they need for the long haul. Eight seasons, he realizes its not a college team, its not a race, its a marathon. If he burns the guys out early hes not going to get the best out of them. Brad always learns every season. He always gets smarter and smarter. Hell get them into the right pace, get them enough touches, enough contact with the ground to keep them healthy. Its hard, though, because they really have a tough season with injuries.

Another challenge will come in the form of intensity the one quality from an NBA game, above all others, that players arent getting right now. Jayson Tatum, who admittedly doesnt even have a basket at home, has a significant path back to regaining the form of his breakout season.

One of the biggest challenges is the intensity in the game. We can do some high intensity work, but the physicality of the game is so much greater than any activity theyre going to get, said Doo. Definitely its how hard they go. When you go from jogging or some sprinting to running up the court, stopping on a dime, jumping and landing, the intensity of the game is different from a workout.

You worry about coming back and getting injured, he said. The muscles are now being taxed in different ways, so theres going to be more muscle pulls, too. But each player hopefully has individualized programs now and that helps. I know a lot of teams have dropped off equipment. My buddies in Phoenix are making deliveries. Some guy is getting a Peloton, something like that.

At issue, too, is keeping a player on track with a training staffs message. Many players have multiple trainers beyond what is offered by the team. This is where burnout can become a problem.

The thing is that the total amount of volume theyre doing now is just so great, said Doo. All summer long they have their own private basketball guy, their own trainer guy. Across the NBA people put their foot down that this is the staff you have and the guy you will work with.

It used to be a rarity when a player would have his own guy, he said. Every person out there now has become an Instagram sensation as far as, Im training pros. They try to wow the players. You want to come back to me (is the message). But I see the long-term thing, the plan. Im worried about when the season comes up. A lot of guys get hurt in the middle of the season because theyve overdone it. Too many hands on them. I was in Miami here, and L.A. there, and I have three different guys working on me because they want to show how good they are. Players are like, Oh, I worked really hard so I must be good. Whereas, Im like, You did way too much today.

A players gradual return, then, is the key for an NBA trainer or strength coach.

There are things in place, said Doo. Once you get the call that youre three weeks out, Hey, we just heard from the league, lets start jumping rope, or a sprint pattern, something like that. They can do things so that when I get to them, its finding the right things after that.

Because what I think is going to happen is that once guys get back, theyre all going to want to play basketball. The players themselves are just going to want to ball. Its almost like keeping them from themselves.

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NBA players will need a gradual return, according to former Celtics fitness coach - Boston Herald

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