What Winners Do...

Winners are confident. Losers have doubt.

Winners hustle. Losers loaf.

Winners praise others. Losers complain.

Winners listen. Losers talk.

Winners are accountable. Losers point the finger.

Winners are enthusiastic. Lowers lack passion.

Winners are great teammates. Losers are selfish.

Winners never quit. Losers give up.

Winners have focus. Losers are disheveled.

Winners have discipline. Losers are weak.

Winners are loyal. Losers are self centered.

Winners have urgency. Losers put things off.

Winners have pride. Losers don’t care.

Winners are coachable. Losers already know it all.

Winners prepare their minds and bodies to win on a daily basis.

Winners do what losers don’t want to do

Pre-Season Workouts: Intangibles

This is the third installment of a three part series on pre-season basketball training. The first post gave a comprehensive overview of a sound pre-season training program. The second post was a checklist to ensure maximum results. This post will tie everything together and take a closer look at the intangible qualities needed for success.

First and foremost, how is your (and your team’s) pre-season training going? Are you getting stronger? Are you getting quicker? Are you becoming more explosive? Are you getting in great basketball shape? Are you better than you were two weeks ago? Do you deserve to be successful this season? You should be evaluating your progress every week. It is not too late to make some adjustments if things are going as well as you would like!

There are three areas you need to make sure you continue to focus on in your pre-season training in order to be the best player (or team) you can this season. They are athleticism, fundamentals, and the intangibles.

Athleticism: strength, power, explosiveness, quickness, agility, reaction, flexibility, and conditioning. These traits must be applied to your fundamentals in order to be a great basketball player. Remember, enhancing these qualities is a means to an end; not an end itself. You need to learn how to use your improved strength and quickness on the court and in your game!

Fundamentals: ball handling, passing, shooting, rebounding, and defending. These skills must be applied to your knowledge and overall feel of the game (basketball IQ) in order to be a great basketball player. Your fundamentals are the parts that make up the whole. You don’t want to be a good “drill” player. You need to learn how to use your improved handle and shot in practice and in the game!

Intangibles: leadership, toughness, communication, and competitiveness. These characteristics are what enable you to take your game to the highest level. They help average players (and teams) become good players (and teams) and good players (and teams) become great players (and teams). If you apply these intangibles to your athleticism and fundamentals you will absolutely be the best player (or team) you can be.

Leadership
Alan Stein believes there is a tremendous lack of leadership in today’s game, which I strongly agree with; specifically with today’s youth. Basketball is a team game that thrives on leadership; from both the coaches and players.

“An army of asses lead by a lion will always defeat and army of lions led by an ass.”

Toughness
Mental toughness is an acquired skill; not inherited trait. Every basketball player out there can become more mentally tough. A good part of being mentally tough is learning to “be comfortable being uncomfortable.” You have to learn to embrace obstacles, difficulties, mistakes, and adversity. You can’t expect anything to be easy. Failure is not only a part of life, but a major part of basketball. If you never fail, you aren’t pushing hard enough or challenging yourself. There are 7 characteristics to mental toughness, all of which can be improved with instruction and practice: competitive, confident, control, committed, composure, courage, and consistency.

Communication
Effective communication can make or break a team. This includes communication on and off the court; among players and coaches. Communication is much more than what you say; it is how you say it. And on top of that, it’s not what you say or how you say it that is important; it’s what the other person hears! Does everyone on your team know exactly what your goals are? Does everyone on the team know exactly what their role is? Do players and coaches know how to effectively deal with confrontation when problems arise?

HUA= Hear, Understand, Acknowledge

Competitiveness
The desire to compete is vital for success. While basketball should most certainly be “fun”; winning is important. And preparing to win is even more important than that. Like toughness; competitiveness is an acquired skill. You can learn to be more competitive. Your pre-season workouts should be competitive. Players should compete against themselves (against a previous effort), against the clock, and against other teammates. Winners should be rewarded as incentive. If you wait until the jump ball of your first game to get your competitive juices flowing… you will be too late!

Pre-Season Workouts: 12 Questions

Most schools have been in session for a couple of weeks and most programs have already started their pre-season workouts. So now is the perfect time to take inventory and evaluate.

Here are 12 questions to see if you are really on the right path. Questions to see if you are doing everything you can to not only make the team, but to earn some serious playing time, and have a championship caliber year.

1) Are you on top of your school work? If not, you aren’t going to be able to play so you might want to take care of this ASAP. Once the season starts, time management will be crucial in making sure you don’t fall behind academically. Start strong!

2) Are you getting 8-10 hours of sleep every night? Sleep is when your body grows! You will never be able to perform up to your potential if you aren’t well rested. Intense pre-season training is extremely taxing on your body; so make sure you get your rest.

3) Are you eating breakfast every day? Are you starting your day off by refueling your “machine?” There is no way you can give 100% for an entire workout if you are running on fumes. Pancakes, waffles, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, and fruit are high energy foods and a great way to start your day.

4) Are you drinking enough water? Your performance will decrease severely with the slightest bit of dehydration. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water… sip all day long. If you want to maximize your pre-season workouts you must be hydrated.

5) Are you tending to any nagging injuries or soreness? If you are having issues with your knees or back… are you doing anything about it? In most cases, ice is your best friend. If something is sore, ice it down! If pain persists, make sure you go see a doctor or physical therapist for a professional diagnosis. Do not wait until the season to do this… it needs to be addressed now! Don’t let something “little” in the pre-season have an effect on your season.

6) Are you making 200-500 (extra) shots a day? And I am not referring to “social shooting” or just going through the motions. I mean “game shots, from game spots, at game speed.” Are you doing this above and beyond your pre-season workouts? How about your ball handling? Repetition is not punishment; it is the only way to get better! Also noticed I said “make”; not “take” 200-500 shots a day. The name of the game is making shots!

7) Are you on a structured workout program? Are you participating in a structure, organized, progressive program to work on your strength, power, quickness, agility, reaction, and basketball conditioning level? Is it safe? Time efficient? Productive?

8) Do you get to every workout on time? Better yet, do you get there early? If you are only “on time” – you are late! You wouldn’t show up to a game 2 minutes before tip-off, would you?

9) Are you an energy giver at every workout? Is your enthusiasm contagious? Do you hype up your teammates? Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.

10) Are you a team leader? Do you step up to the front of the line for every drill and every sprint? Do you run hard or push for that extra rep in the weight room regardless of whether or not the coach is watching?

11) Are you comfortable being uncomfortable? Do you play it safe each workout or do you give it everything you’ve got? Do you push yourself to the edge of the proverbial cliff every time? Do you work on your weaknesses?

12) Have you met with your coach for his/her evaluation? Have you formally sat down with your coach to ask what things you need to work on to earn time this year? Or to be the best player you can be? Or what he/she envisions your roll to be when the season starts? Coaches, have you done this with each of your players?

Pre-Season Workouts: It's About Choices

Below is segment 1 of 3 that I will be posting on Pre-season workouts. The information was posted on Alan Stein's website at www.strongerteam.com

To get into great basketball shape; your conditioning program must be:

- Energy system specific (high intensity/short duration, drills should last :15 - :60)
- Movement specific (sprint, back pedal, defensive slides, jumping)
- Progressive (increase intensity, increase volume, decrease rest)
- Competitive (compete against teammate or clock)
- Fun (try to find drills you enjoy doing, you will work harder if you are having fun)

One thing that unites every player in the world this pre-season is the power to choose. You have the right to chose how you will train this pre-season. Every one of us is a product of the choices we make on a daily basis. Where ever we are in life, we are there as a result of the choices we have made. If you are happy and successful, it is because of your choices. If you are unhappy and miserable, it is also because of your choices. Same goes for pre-season training. When the season is here, if you are in great shape it is because you made the choice to be in great shape!

“Keep doing what you’ve been doing and you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. If you don’t like what you’ve been getting than quit doing what you’ve been doing!”

What kind of choices are you making now to start the pre-season? Are you choosing to get plenty of sleep at night? Are you choosing to eat breakfast every day? Are you choosing to work hard in the weight room? Are you choosing to run every sprint/drill as hard as possible? Are you choosing to be enthusiastic and supportive of your teammates?

These are all choices. Your answer to these questions will dictate the success of your pre-season as well as the type of player you will be.