In one of my previous articles I’ve written on planning a basketball camp. This article will tell you about the reasons why you should visit a camp.

Camps are usually held in off-season or during holidays. This is a good time to improve your overall game, and basketball camps are a perfect occasion for this. Here are 6 reasons why:

  • Develop your skills in a short time
    Due to the concentrated amount of time spent with professional coaches and instructors you can develop and enhance your skills much quicker, than during regular basketball practice. You’ll get first-hand feedback on your skills and in turn will improve right away. Some camps offer small groups of players or individual coaching. These are the ones to have a look out for.

  • Meet new coaches
    Meeting new coaches with different coaching philosophies and styles can give you an invaluable insight on how to master the art of playing basketball. You may have learned a lot from your current coach, but it doesn’t matter to have a look and adapt the concepts of others. Especially if you are coaching yourself you can always find something new to apply on your current coaching.

  • Compete with other players
    During practice games you’ll be meeting a lot of good and advanced players to compete against. Playing against outstanding opponents makes you better as whole, therefore a highlight of a basketball camp is always a tournament with an award ceremony afterwards.In many cases you’ll be meeting a couple of basketball-minded players you know from your regular league games from around town and country. During my time as a player I have met a whole bunch of great people, with whom I still have close friendships nowadays. Prepare make friendships!

  • Meet professional basketball players
    Some camps have prominent guests: Larger camps are being visited by professionals from local sports teams. This gives you the chance to meet them in person and ask questions you’ve ever wanted to. Soon you’ll find out that their success is about the fundamentals and they are regular peeps like you and me.

  • The Young Coaches Programme
    If you’re coaching a basketball team, too, some basketball camps offer special coaching cliniques. Here you can get first-hand advice from professionals through lectures and workshops. The topics can be strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports psychology etc. Some coaches also offer hand-outs for special (and often neglected) topics like improving speed, agility and quickness.

  • Cultural Activities
    Basketball camps, which are held out of country, also offer a lot of off-court activities. For example, these can  include foreign language classes, which are molded into the daily schedule, and a day trip to one of the larger cities around the camp area. This is a great way to meet the locals and get a feel for a different culture.

    • I’ve always enjoyed visiting basketball camps. In my younger days, this was a great way to escape from home and to enjoy a week alone, without parents. There’s probably no cheaper way to spend a week off from home and at the same time developing your skills as a player … and as a young man growing up.

    If you’ve been on a camp or if you’ve been accompanying your kids, I’d like to hear from your experiences you have made. Did you enjoy your basketball camp time?

    Picture credit: Cameron Cassan • Creative Commons Attribution