By Andrew Fasano
Staff Writer
The boys varsity basketball team traded in its running shoes for boardshorts this year for weekly beach workouts.
The beach conditioning practices are on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Manhattan Beach pier, in addition to their regular gym practices that focus primarily on court skills. The beach conditioning is run by coaches Kevin Dawson and Nick Jones and is a way for the team to train outside of Costa .
“All of the trainings we run are a challenge, and we hope that they will have a positive impact on our season,” Costa basketball coach Jeff Amaral said. “We hope the players will be in spectacular cardiovascular shape and be more dynamic in their jumping and quickness while on the court.”
According to Dawson and Jones, the main purpose of the beach workouts is to increase the team’s collective endurance so that the players will be in better shape for the upcoming winter season. Building endurance will allow the players to showcase their abilities without feeling the negative effects of fatigue on the basketball court.
“We wanted to find a way to change up our team’s routine in a unique and fun way,” Jones said. “After working on high difficulty surfaces like sand, it makes running on flat surfaces much easier.”
According to Jones, the addition of the beach workouts was also to give the teams that are in season the space that they need for their practices. This way the basketball team is still able to work out without having to reserve a time to use the track.
“Being at the beach makes the workouts a lot more bearable because it’s a different atmosphere and an extremely beautiful setting,” shooting guard Sam Sturges said.
The team starts off by doing dynamic stretches, including yoga, breathing exercises and tackle football, as well as running the length of two lifeguard towers to warm up their muscles. The team does different drills during its beach conditioning trainings, including distance jumps, short sprints and long distance runs from the Manhattan Beach pier to the Hermosa Beach pier.
“The beach workouts are a lot more challenging than the track workouts,” junior shooting guard Carson Phillips said. “Running on the soft sand is killer, but it really helps strengthen your legs.”
According to Phillips, the practices are extremely taxing on the body and leave the players sore the next day.
“The sand’s resistance is difficult, but I like it because I know its making me stronger,” senior center Tyler Morgan said.
The beach conditioning ranges from one to one and half hours per session. Along with the outdoor conditioning practices, there are indoor practices held at Manhattan Beach Middle School on Tuesdays and Thursdays that are two hours long.
“So far, the student athletes have been working extremely hard,” Dawson said. “The players hope to raise their skill level on the court throughout the spring and summer by taking part in this conditioning.”
According to Sturges, while workouts at the beach have posed challenges, the conditioning has been beneficial for team chemistry because it causes the team to come together and overcome challenges.
“As coaches, we all push our players through difficult workouts, and conditioning teaches lessons that I too had to learn as a player,” Jones said. “Our workouts are tough, and we hope this training on the sand will make playing on the basketball court less difficult.”
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