The Off-Season Athlete Training Camps Major League Players Attend
By
Will Brown
Contributor Updated: 21 February 2025
Will Brown Contributor
William Brown is a Content Writer with strong expertise in US and global gambling industry trends. Having covered the local sports betting market since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, William approaches his gambling guides with passion and diligence. He is a keen player of online slots, blackjack, and a regular sports bettor.
Off-Season Training Camps
The schedule of a professional athlete is stacked with long training sessions, recovery periods, and performance days both during and outside of the regular season. To stay at the top of their game, pro players attend athlete training camps during the off-season that cover everything from strategizing to strength and conditioning work. In this guide, we’ve explained what happens at these training camps before discussing the camps of the Big Four US leagues.
Intro to Odd-Season Training Camp Schedules
Before we get too far into this guide, we’ve begun by explaining why training camp fitness regimes are so important to maintaining high-level performances. We’ve then described what commonly happens at training camps, including both the physical and mental preparation techniques that are employed.
From there, we’ve looked at the training camps for the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. If you wish, you can use the following links to jump to each section that interests you, though we recommend reading them all to get a comprehensive overview of the sessions.
- Why Are Training Camps Important?
- What Happens at Training Camps?
- About NFL Training Camps
- NBA Training Camps Explained
- Common MLB Training Camps
- NHL Training Camps Explained
- Other Sports’ Training Camps
Why Are Training Camp Pro Athlete Sessions Important?
So, what is a training camp? Training camps see teams travel to remote locations to develop their skills, strategize, and take stock of their past achievements. Often, they take place at universities, providing players with a chance to get away from distractions and focus exclusively on their professions.
Major league athlete training camps serve several important purposes for new and returning players. The clearest benefit is that they give players a chance to reflect on the previous season and make adjustments. It also ensures that players are physically and mentally prepared for the upcoming season of play.
If there are new coaches or players, this gives them time to meet and form bonds with their teammates and other personnel, as well as get familiar with current systems. If any flaws in the processes are identified, these can be adjusted well before the new season begins.
Coaches may take the time to evaluate newly drafted young players while returning players will benefit from focusing on improving problem areas. The top sites in our online sportsbook rankings inform their odds based on league data, so it’s worthwhile keeping up-to-date on news from camps or injury reports at the beginning of every season.
What Happens at Training Camps?
The time of the off-season training camp for each league varies between two weeks and two months. This is often dependent on the sport, the team, and the players involved. Usually, there are several phases that build throughout the period, with players regularly playing in practice games.
It’s also standard for players to attend film screening sessions that dissect not only their previous performances but also the performances of their opponents. By uncovering their strengths and weaknesses and those of the other teams, coaches can craft and implement game plans that are understood by players.
The sessions also provide an opportunity for injured players to rehabilitate, getting back into shape while adapting to a new team or coaching dynamics. Fundamental components of the camps are strength and condition training, speed training, endurance training, team-building exercises, and aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
Some sports such as basketball include practice games to test specific strategies and movements to anticipate responses from opponents. Developing playbooks is a huge focus of the sessions, with coaches able to analyze the capabilities of their players and make lineup decisions accordingly.
NFL Training Camps Explained
The NFL has one of the most famous athlete training camps in the world. These are held in the weeks before the pre-season and after a series of voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs). The OTAs consist of daily meetings, drills, and film studies, as well as strength and conditioning training and rehabilitation.
The program only includes a limited coaching staff, with live contact and team vs. team play prohibited. The NFL Training Camp then commences in mid-July and unfolds over two weeks to early August. Here, new players meet their teammates and acclimate to the new systems. These camps are mandatory, with per diems and travel expenses paid.
The camp schedule is divided into two portions. The first, a five-day on-field acclimation period, begins with meetings, medical exams, and classroom instructions. This can include revising running and conditioning drills. The period then moves to on-field activities with no live contact. There are usually two daily sessions which may include full-speed training and walk-throughs.
The second portion is the two-a-day phase. These include a maximum of four hours per day of on-field time, divided into padded on-field practice and a walkthrough session of training camp pro athlete maneuvers. This second phase also includes treatments, weight training, reviewing tapes, drills, and resting.
About NBA Training Camps
The NBA off-season training camp sees roughly half of the league’s teams travel to remote locations to recuperate, bond, and practice for the upcoming season. These are usually held in late September and unfold over three weeks before the regular season commences. Like in the NFL camps, studying playbooks, conditioning drills, and film sessions are the norm for players, while coaches refine the roster based on their observations.
However, there is also a strong focus on building rapport. Coaches understand the value of team-building exercises and relaxation before the year’s busy schedule commences and organize activities to help players unwind. For example, last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers were reported to be playing golf in Florida, while the Golden State Warriors enjoyed yoga on a Hawaiian beach.
That doesn’t mean that it’s all a vacation, though. Athletes spend grueling hours in the gyms and on-court, while coaches take the opportunity to guide players to improve their weaknesses. There are also two-a-day drill sessions, with a media day typically held throughout the camp to discuss the upcoming season.
MLB Training Camps Explained
Perhaps the most famous of the athlete training camps is Major League Baseball’s Spring Training. Held over six weeks from mid-February to late March, the camps are held in Florida and Arizona to capitalize on the regions’ warm weather. Interestingly, minor league players also play, helping them gain exposure to the coaching staff as potential recruits.
The camp begins with a week of exercises for pitchers and catchers. In this phase, pitchers and catchers build their strength through throwing programs and conditioning work. The following week, the remaining position players arrive, and work is done to integrate rookies into the team. Position players practice fielding drills, batting, and base running.
Of course, there are also regular meetings and video analysis sessions. The mornings tend to begin with regular workouts under specific instruction, with afternoons usually consisting of exhibition games between clubs. These games are open to the public and attract audiences of fans from across the country each year.
NHL Training Camps Explained
The NHL Training Camp runs between mid-September and early October, with three different phases that cater to established players, AHL players, rookies, and unsigned veterans. They begin with a five-night rookie camp before the main camp, with prospects and AHL players focusing on development. Here, they may make an impression on scouts.
After, main camp begins with medical and fitness examinations, testing everything from body composition to on-ice acceleration. This stage ensures players are fit to train and can help identify areas to work on over the period. Over the following weeks, training camp pro athlete workouts are undertaken regularly, with team bonding exercises interspersed.
Off-ice strength training, meetings, and film analysis sessions are also important elements of the camps. Toward the end of the camp, a series of preseason games are held for both practice and player evaluation reasons. The camp also requires the completion of certain contract formalities such as the AHL waiver signing and roster cuts.
Other Sports’ Training Camps
As you can see, the athlete training camps share similarities in that they are focused on team building, physical training, game analysis, strategizing, and practice. This is the same for sports such as soccer, boxing, tennis, golf, cricket, and rugby, with slight variations depending on the rules and structure of leagues and tournaments.
Interestingly, motorsports training camps tend to embrace simulation technology, with F1 drivers using driver-loop simulators to practice races without resource or track condition constraints. In some sports such as soccer, teams are relocated to high-altitude areas to increase their red blood cell count and maximum oxygen consumption. There really are no limits to the types of activities that are held at these camps.
