How Do Collegiate Athletes Train Over the Summer?

Written By: Tex Greene

When watching college athletes on TV, they can seem unstoppable, untouchable, and downright invincible. However, no one gets to where they are athletically without intense training and hard work. During athlete’s seasons, there’s no doubt that they’re practicing everyday. Even during offseasons while still at school, athletes are training, sometimes more than once a day. However, how does the training workload change when the school year ends? That’s what we’re diving into today.

In theory, the ruling on summer practices should be quite simple. In the NCAA’s bylaws, rule 17.1.5.1 says the following: Practice that is organized or financially supported by a member institution shall be prohibited during the summer unless specifically authorized in the bylaws (e.g., foreign tour) or through official interpretations approved by the Management Council. 

However, in the NCAA, everyone is looking to gain a competitive advantage over one another. With some sports such as cross country, this isn’t difficult to work around: coaches assign their players training plans and they can run on their own. However, for other team sports, this can be more difficult. Thankfully, there are exceptions that help certain teams out.

For football and basketball, arguably the two most popular sports at the collegiate level, summer practices are allowed (and in many cases required). Players stay on campus during the summer, often taking classes to help manage their course load during the school year. This NCSA article shows the life of a D1 football player during the summer, which is packed from their wakeup at 5 AM to bedtime anywhere between 9-12. 2-a-days are common.

This is only for D1 sports, however. For the D2, D3, and NAIA levels, their athletes (including football and basketball) are more likely to have a real summer break, and go home. While they will most definitely be doing training on their own, there aren’t always formal or even voluntary practices during the summer. 

 Whether on campus or off, collegiate athletes are training intensely over the summer, and making sure that their teams are in the best position succeed, their individual development skyrockets, and the fans have an amazing time watching their teams soar to victory.