New-Age Gymrat Revolution
Head coaches get a lot of publicity these days. Often times these head coaches get the majority of hype, newspaper clippings, and name making (Dicky V was once a coach, enough said!), but it shouldn't be this way. It is the trainers, mentors, and self-development personnel that should be the real stars. And most importantly, they should be the stars of your show because these key people will help you improve the most!
In many ways, a head coach is supposed to make a team better, but a personal (basketball or sports performance) trainer is supposed to make a player (you) better. The magic formula for a great head coach is someone that can find the right balance-- between player development and team development-- like the infamous Yin-Yang symbol.
These head coaches exist, but they are usually too busy to spend all of their energy, planning, and advice with you!
Why?
Think about it. Head coaches today-- in Division I, II, and III-- always seem to be looking for the next great player at the next big AAU tournament.
Pheeeww-eeey on them!
But more importantly, how do you become one of these exclusively talented players the coaches are looking for?
It isn't just a one word answer, although most trainers, workout scam DVDs, and phony commercial basketball camps will try to give you just that. There is no one-stop-shop for basketball success. I don't have all the answers, but I do know what these college coaches really want:
The complete package as an athlete, person, and basketball player.
So let's start there.
If I was these coaches, I'd change the "normal" recruiting approach. Instead, I would start looking for that special trainer that knows what it takes to get you to the highest of level of basketball performance (if you already know this is for you: www..com ). I would be looking for that unique mentor that pushes you to work on every aspect of who you are. I would be looking for that different kid pushing his body, mind, and soul with this trainer to become the best basketball player he/she can be!
Endless AAU tournaments are the holy grail. You can think you're getting close to realizing your potential, but it's always the next game or tournament, the next scout or recruiter that will be watching you. But really, it's only competition in the end.
Granted, (like I said before: great parents, great trainers, and great competition are the key!) AAU has a purpose. It does show kids and parents how much talent, athleticism, and game is out there. But this should be a constant reminder as to why you should constantly strive to find any and all advantages for yourself.
New-Age Gymrats unite now!
The days of 10 hours in the basketball gym are over. The days of skinny arms and black sunken gymrat eyes are over. The days of Pistol Pete and sloppy pick-up ball are over! The days of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are over. Not that there aren't insights to glean from these pros. There are! But the times have changed (and you with them!) and just shooting 400 shots a day and dribbling a basketball around town aren't enough anymore!
So let us welcome in the new age of the Gymrat: personalized plans designed for efficiency, rest and recovery; proven systems based on periodization, all-inclusive training and workouts made with the sole purpose of realizing full potential on every scale!
If this is what you are looking for, you are on the right path. I believe wholeheartedly this is what you should be doing: working with one-of-a-kind trainers like Jason Otter, or sports performance trainers, or mentors implementing their systems, weight room training programs, or vertical jump and plyometric routines (among others).
Keep reading if this is what you are looking for. If you are looking for easy solutions and the holy grail, stop reading!
Basketball Saying #3: If you think you have already arrived, you are wrong.
Why? Nobody has every arrived. That is why Dwayne Wade and Lebron James pay a hundred thousand dollars to their trainers. That is why Tim Grover studies basketball movement, physiology, muscle preparation, anatomy, and who knows what else... to help those guys get the most out of their bodies and games!
But there are countless other trainers and playings forging the same relationship. That is why I pay my trainer (not as much!) and work with people like Jason Otter. And that is why you will have to shell out some money to get yourself to the top-- because we can't possibly know it all and focus on every aspect of realizing our potential.
Basically, a young player/parent can't have a PhD in training and coaching!
Even more important, this philosophy of living has taught me some valuable lessons about basketball and life...
Basketball Tip #3: Since everyday brings a new set of challenges, barriers, and resistance, you get to decide everyday, if not every moment, to begin separating yourself from the rest of the herd and do something different.
Which leads me to...
Basketball Tip #4: Right now, start designing a workout plan (on and off the court) through research, experience, and effort (and money probably), that is based upon evaluation of your weaknesses/strengths. Next, start implementing and working the plan immediately.
Can you make it without any help or planning?
Sure you can, but it's harder than building a house without a hammer. Or worse, just imagine if you were building a house without a blueprint. My guess is you'd live in a pretty ugly house!
Sorry, but it's the truth and I don't want your game to be ugly!
But what else do you need to realize your full potential? To get to the top?
Work ethic. College coaches are starting to realize the importance of having a skill like work ethic (yes, I believe work ethic is a developed skill). Players are getting closer in skill and athleticism. Just watch the NCAA tournament if you don't believe me. Take this year's NCAA Cinderella team Butler University. It was a team full of small town kids, no names, and overlooked talent. You probably have something in common with a lot of these players. Yet these special players somehow separated themselves from their competition on a national level, received a basketball scholarship, and more importantly, reached their full potential.
This is exactly what you'll be doing.
How did these Butler players get there? How did they get a chance to play at highest of basketball pinnacles?
Again, work ethic. I can't emphasize this enough. But it doesn't stop there. Work ethic alone isn't enough, much like a building a house with only a roof isn't enough. You need walls, dry wall, shingles, framing, and much more. These players built themselves into the full package. To do this, they made a blueprint, understood their blueprint, and worked until the blueprint was finished. For some it may easier than others, but your blueprint is unique and special. It is made for you and only you.
I'm sure these Butler players built their games with their unique off-season training regimens; their personal development through expert coaching during the season (these are usually the assistant coaches taking the personal training role at this level), and their effort and progress in the weight room.
I can assure you these kids had a work ethic before they got to college. They were Gymrats to the tenth degree. But they also had a strategic plan that utilized their strengths and advanced their weaknesses until they became Division I prospects. And they probably worked at this plan tirelessly, doing whatever it took to complete their blueprint.
This is the difference between the players that make the jump from high school to college basketball...
Basketball Saying #4: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Ben Franklin
In my opinion, work ethic is equally important as athleticism, height, or innate ability.
The ability to work efficiently, hard, and smart is one of the most important skills you can have in the game of basketball. If I was these college coaches, I would be studying what a player does in their workouts, how hard they work, what they do, why they do it, and when they do it. I wouldn't be watching all these AAU games (okay, maybe a few), but a player can change so much in a year period, or better, a six month period.
You know I'm right! Think about where you were a year ago.
Are you the same player?
For your sake, I hope not!
With a great attitude, insurmountable work ethic and unquenchable thirst for learning, you can master the right set of fundamentals to be successful at the game of basketball. I live in Europe where seven-footers can shoot the three from thirty feet, make a no-look pass, and make free throws! Don't tell me only certain people can master the fundamentals because it's
hogwash!
True, it helps to be seven feet tall and jump forty inches straight up, but even these players find ways to not reach their full potential (or worse, not make the team)! Even if you aren't a McDonald's All-American, even if you can't jump 40 inches and run a 4.2 forty yard dash... you can succeed with basketball and reach as high as fulfilling your blueprint can take you.
Hogwash again, you say?
If the proof is in the pudding, then look no further because I got a big spoonful of it ready to fling it at you (if you're the first naysayer that is)!
What am I talking about, you ask?
I had not one division one scholarship until a week before university started!
Yet here I am today, standing before you as an achiever of my full potential (and still working on it!) And let me tell you, there were tons of high school players more athletic than me, taller than me, faster than me, but none of them trained, worked, and executed their blueprint and plan as well as me!
Which leads me to my next point in regards to your progress as a basketball player: imagine me as the next head college coach coming to visit you, not at an AAU game, but watching your workouts, sports performance sessions, and on-court training.
What would you do differently? Work harder? Smarter?
Really... what and how would you train if a scholarship was on the line,or better, hundreds of thousands of dollars?
Hopefully you are catching what I'm throwing at you. It's the how and why, not the who and where that matters. Now, I know none of us started playing basketball with the intention of getting a scholarship or a million dollars. But many of us have the intention of fulfilling our potential. I know I did.
And that's all you have to concern yourself with, which leads me to the only real question we need to ask ourselves (since we are basketball players I will phrase it in regards to basketball, but you can take basketball out and add life instead): How do we really take the passion we have for basketball and truly fulfill all of our potential?
This is what I'm trying to tell you. The difference between making it and not making it is miniscule. There is a huge gray area for college coaches. The separation between a Butler player and a Division II-III player isn't as big as you think, just like the reasons why a high school player makes it or doesn't make it aren't as big as you think.
Basketball Tip #5: It will always be the ambitious youth that puts his/her basketball plan into action, everyday of every year and continues to do the right things that separates themselves from the rest of the pack and reaches their goals.
Basketball isn't a perfect game. Great players slip through. Bad players sign full rides. It happens all the time. But it does lead me to the old adage my father still tells me, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Are you really ready to start learning (Well, you must be right? You are reading this?) So let's start here:
- Reaching your full potential means finding the right people to help get you there.
- It means designing the blueprint that will help make you who you are trying to be.
- It may take some work ethic skill building, but I believe with smart, efficient work we can achieve great things.
Good luck in your quest. I hope I can help you get to where you are going, which seems to be up-up-and-away... – Trevor H.
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