Georgia basketball’s workouts during pandemic are part-science, part-imagination
Laundry detergent. Water jugs filled with sand. Backpacks stuffed to the brim with books and rocks. In a pandemic, these become the tools of strength and conditioning.
Just ask Georgia’s associate strength and conditioning director Sean Hayes, who has been tasked with trying to keep the Bulldog men’s basketball players in shape with the sports world at a standstill.
“It was all about imagination,” Hayes said on a Zoom video call with reporters Monday. “It was all what we have at home to use.”
The Bulldog players have been absent from campus since the middle of March. That’s much longer than the typical period of separation of players and coaches, which usually spans about three weeks in May after the conclusion of the spring semester.
Since then, Hayes has been planning for their return. He spoke with football strength and conditioning director Scott Sinclair about the materials he sent home with Georgia’s gridiron athletes.
Hayes has tried to keep up with sharing a workout with his players every day. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are for lifting, mobility and conditioning. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Hayes provides presentations for more skill-based workouts.
“I went on PowerPoint and got pretty efficient with PowerPoint making up basketball courts and sandpit diagrams,” Hayes said.
The two preeminent bodies in the field, the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, have also provided guidance. Those bodies released what Hayes called a “50, 30, 20, 10” plan where players start at 50 percent of normal workout volume upon their return and then ramp up to be at full strength after about a month.
For now, it’s still unknown when the players will be back. Hayes said head coach Tom Crean is still evaluating when the Bulldogs will return, meaning they’re still left to work out however they can at home. George Mason graduate transfer Justin Kier texted Hayes asking for a workout centered around flipping tires.
That’s just one example of how the players have adapted to staying in shape away from campus.
“I’d have guys that would FaceTime me initially, ‘Hey, I’m at a hill, can you text me a workout?’ ‘Hey, I’m at a turf (field), can you text me a workout?’” Hayes said. “You just have to be creative.”
The workouts are voluntary, so Hayes has been relying on “scout’s honor” for players to report what they’ve been doing. Players such as Sahvir Wheeler, Tye Fagan and Toumani Camara have been instrumental in holding players accountable.
But Hayes wants the Bulldogs to know they’re not in it alone. He sends them videos of himself doing every workout as well, providing a little extra motivation along the way.
“If I’m doing it at 45, hey, you guys can do it too,” Hayes said. “I always would text them a picture of me working out and say, ‘I better not be in better shape when we get back.’”
Whenever players return, Hayes and the medical team have protocols in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. All coaches and personnel in the weight room will wear masks and gloves. Social distancing will be in place, and equipment will be cleaned after every use.
The weight room is big enough to allow the entire team to be in at once, but other personnel will be limited. The team will split into two groups, with about half the players working at one station and the other half in another area.
The new setup will be an adjustment for everyone. Hayes will be coaching and barking out encouragement from behind a mask for the first time in his career. He said he’s been learning from how Sinclair has been doing things since football players came back to campus and started workouts on June 8.
Despite the masks, disinfectant and social distancing, the goal remains the same. Once they return to Athens, Hayes will be working with the Bulldogs to get them in shape for the 2020-21 season.
“We just can’t hop into where we think they should be,” Hayes said. “We’ve got to hop into where they are now.”