10 YEAR PLAN-- 2010-2020 "YOUR DECADE FOR CHANGE"

Take time out of your schedule and sit down for about 30 minutes and begin a 10 year plan.
What do you want your life to look like by 2020?

We believe the more clear you are about what you want, the better chance you have of achieving what you want.

Write out your physical goals.
What kind of shape would you like to be in the next ten years? Where would you like to be with your athletic dreams in ten years?
How can you best achieve these goals?
Who can you partner with to help you reach these goals?

Write out your academic goals.
How do you learn best? Do you value education and where do you see education taking you to over this next decade?

Write out your goals for using your talents as a thank you to God for all He has given to you.
What are your top three talents and how can you best use them to serve others and better the world?
What do you really love to do and is this something you want to be great at 10 years from now?

Write out your goals for your family.
What kind of relationship would you like to have in ten years from now? What character changes do you need to make to be the best family member you can be?

Write out your spiritual goals.
What does your relationship with God mean to you now and what would you like it to mean 10 years from now? What is important for you to do everyday to connect to God and have a mindset that is focused on helping others not just self-focused?


After you write these out, pick a few action points you want to remember everyday. Post these where you can review them and ask someone to hold you accountable.

Make this decade a life changing one.

HELP YOUR TEAM THIS SEASON

You help your team this season when you make your defense foul you. Fouls help your team get to the free throw line, frustrate the other team, and keep the other team from playing too physical.
Keys to drawing fouls:
Maintain excellent balance. Strong pivots, and fake.


Fakes are critical in the game of basketball, but you have to practice fakes and execute them often. Watch how many teams work on fakes, practicing them in warm-ups. Hardly any! If we don’t practice it, we won’t do it. Sell your fakes, get in a mirror and make sure the fakes look like the real thing. Fake high, pass low. Fake right, go left. Shot fake then cross step. Fake to get open and cut backdoor. Use your fakes to your advantage!

A BASKETBALL CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

A Christmas Message for Hoopers
by NBC Camps


T’was the night of the big game
When all through the crowd,
parents hoped that their children would make them so proud.
The players jostled and jockeyed for a top five position,
sitting the bench, a most dreaded condition.



Each hoped to score 30 with pomp and panache
But thirty-two minutes flies by in a flash
The ball lofted high signaling the game’s start
quickly revealing the arrogance in each player’s heart.



Each showed no discernment on good shot selection
corking it up immediately without much reflection.
Each pouted and ranted when subbed off the court,
the coaches criticized and belittled with every retort.



The point spread grew wider, the parents all moaned.
At half-time, the locker room felt like a funeral home.
Then a player apologized for hogging the ball
sparking each to take responsibility for all
of the rudeness, and ego, the critiques and the blame
for losing perspective over glory and fame.



Now humbly, the team re-entered the floor
creating opportunities for others to score.
Those on the bench cheered with great vigor
encouraging play-making with disciplined rigor.



This new attitude changed the final outcome of the game
the victory so sweet, no individual could claim.
And into my mind sprang an old Bible verse
“The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

And I heard all exclaim as we left from the gym,
the true meaning of basketball is not just the win,
But the sacrifice, integrity and the joy of the sport
by becoming a giving teammate…on and off of the court.

NBC Camps: Change your game, Change your world

Four active steps to help propel you to the forefront of any college coach’s recruiting list

1. Do your homework. Research ahead of time what area of the country you’d like to live in, enrollment sizes, urban vs. rural, private vs. public, the majors you are interested in, and be honest about what divisions in which you can potentially compete. NCAA Division 1 is definitely the most competitive; NCAA Division 2 and some high level NAIA Division 1 schools are comparable, and NCAA Division 3 and lower level NAIA schools are very similar. Every school has a different balance of athletics, academics, on-campus social life, and local attractions. It is important for you to have at least a general idea of “your perfect college.” Once you’ve established some parameters, find all the schools that fit your description. This is your foundation.



2. Create your personal profile. There are a lot of recruiting agencies and companies that can do this for you, but it’s not really necessary to have them put it together. Coaches see so many profiles that they tend to blur together anyway. You want to be organized and professional, but you can do this by putting together an athletic/academic resume on your own, or with the help of your school college counselor. Be sure to include: your name, contact information, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, community involvement, academic honors, athletic honors, years of basketball experience, kinds of experiences, positions played, height, weight, standing reach, basketball stats and any other athletic info you have available.



3. Have film available. You are so fortunate to live in a day and age where information is constantly accessible through the internet. No regular person could put up videos online when I was in high school. Now it’s simple and free to just copy the link to your YouTube account where a coach can see your skills. It’s also more convenient for the coaches, instead of giving them a DVD they have to find a player for, and time to watch it. You need to make at least four kind of videos. Different coaches want to see different things; if you make all these options available, it will be easy for us to find what we’re looking for. You should have a full game film, a partial game film (1-2 games is enough), a highlight reel, and a skills video from practice. It’s best to set up the camera in a wide angle so it captures the full court. If you can also include a short introduction video where you speak directly to coaches about your strengths, it shows your communication skills and personality in another light.



4. Make the effort in the details. Communicate to the coaches what you are looking for in a college: kind of playing style and goals for your basketball career, also what major and vocational career you're interested in pursuing. Say things like, "I am definitely interested in the Journalism emphasis in your Communications department," and "My beliefs match up well with the doctrinal statements at your school," and "I'm really looking to become actively involved with (name a variety of the programs you found that the school has)." You want to communicate that you will be a good fit for their school and their basketball program. Be professional, but be approachable; make sure all grammar and punctuation is correct, and include contact information for your parents, coaches, high school counselors, and yourself. Communicate that you would like to talk with them over the phone and eventually visit the school to meet the team and tryout.



Yes, college visits can get expensive. But after your initial contact with coaches, you can begin to narrow down your top choices to two or three schools. You really do need to visit all of these schools, meet the basketball teams, observe the coach’s style, stay in the dorms, and sit in on classes. A website cannot do justice to the actual feeling you experience while on campus.



And remember, you want to be marketable. High grades and SAT scores are always more attractive to coaches because they know you have the probability to succeed in college level academics. Earn as many scholarships as you can through academics, community service, and local organizations. Be the well-rounded person every coach wants to add to their program.

October training for basketball season

Basketball season is coming! Here are some keys college coaches recommend to get you prepared to walk on the court ready to show your best.

1. Be in great shape. A good way to get back into top condition if you are not is to jog at a brisk pace for 4 minutes then sprint as hard as you can as if a man-eating tiger where trying to catch you. Sprint hard for one minute, then resume to your brisk paced run for 4 minutes. Do this a total of 4 times (4 minutes of brisk running with 1 minute all out sprinting). Each week, add 15 seconds to the all out sprint.

2. Practice passing-- Find a wall at your house and work at least 15 minutes each day on this crucial skill. Pick a spot on the wall and hit that spot 20 times with each type of pass (overhead, chest, bounce) Try with two balls going at a time and see how accurate you can be. Practice cross-overs and behind-the-back as well.

3. Shooting. Get a ball and lie on your back. Practice perfect form shooting with one hand. Close your eyes and practice visualizing making your shots. Design a 15 minute workout focusing on different key spots on the court. Practice catching the ball and shooting after a pass, making the shot after a drive. Have a goal of how many you can make in a row. Also set up a consequence if you miss -- such as a down and back sprint or a few push-ups.

4. Play lots and lots of one-on-one. Coaches want players who can attack the basket within the offense. When you play one-on-one, make it as real to a game situation as possible. In games, typically you can't use the entire floor to beat your man, you only get one side of the basket-- so do this when you are practicing. Make boundary rules, limit your dribbles, remember to rebound so that you train your body for muscle memory.

5. Post your goals on your mirror and/or in your locker.


Have questions on how to prepare for the season? Email us
nbc@nbccamps.com

FIVE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR COACH LIKE THE WAY YOU PLAY

1. Be the first on the court every time and never, ever late. Get busy working on your fundamentals. Go to work on your game the second you step on the court. No conversation with teammates.

2. Have the "eye of the tiger" mindset. No one is going to out hustle you or want it more than you. You are the tiger in the fight, not the kitten.

3. Pressure your opponent. Practice is not a social hour. Practice is your time to make the person you guard miserable. Guard with such great intensity, every dribble is under duress. Make players hate to play against you. On “D” great pressure, on “O” move, move and then move some more.

4. Make your teammates better. Talk with encouragement. Call out screens on defense; set solid screens on offense. Be positive, energetic and happy to be part of the team.

5. Take care of the ball, make good decisions, pass to the open player and know the plays.

BASKETBALL DYSFUNCTION ASSESSMENT

This is an entertaining diagnostic evaluation tool designed to uncover patterns and styles of play which prohibit maximum performance.

Even though there is humor in this self-evaluation, perhaps you see yourself in one of these categories.

Categories of Basketball Dysfunction

1. The Gunner:
These players compulsively shoot whenever a basketball is in their hands. Distance, game flow, and degree of difficulty are inconsequential. If the gunner gets the ball--- it’s going up!

2. The Acquiescer:
Acquiesce means to submit, or comply silently without protest. These players will always pass up the shot, (literally). Even when these athletes are midway through their lay-up, if they spy someone open past the three point line, they dish out.

3. The Bricklayer:
They hustle, they work hard, they have no touch. They immediately follow every shot by crashing the boards—even before the ball has left their hands.

4. The Ambulance Chaser:
These players are always out of control, willing to launch head-first out of bounds even down a flight of stairs, for a loose ball. They may even dive under a parked car on asphalt while playing a pick-up game of 1-on-1.

5. The Deceived:
These athletes are a legend in their own mind. They are First Team All-Backyard. They think they are the best, even when no one else does. They think humility is their greatest attribute. They will make their own trophies out of silverware, duct tape and a newspaper if they have to.

6. The Pouter:
These talented athletes have all the skills, but they get tripped up by their lip they stick out when they don’t get their way. The wrong calls, playing time, fouls…it doesn’t take much to ruffle their feathers and make them want to give up.

7. The Hacker:
These players live by the rule, “It’s only a foul if it draws blood.” Hackers foul hard and often. They rarely finish a game without fouling out. The ref usually has to stop the game several times to attend to the injured players they guard.

8. The Apologizer:
These athletes have a continual monologue of groans, moans, sighs, exclamations, “my bad’s”, coupled by headshaking, hair pulling, and browbeating. They think great plays that happen for the other team, while they are on the bench, are somehow personally their fault.

9. The Blamer:
The floor, the pass, the lighting, and the orbital pattern of the moon are all possible excuses for this player not performing well. Nothing is ever their fault. Note, blamers cannot recognize if they fall into this category.

10. The Mental Kobe:
These athletes speak in third person, are often found telling stories of personal success. They yell “And 1” after every shot. They spell team with an “I” and spend countless hours perfecting their autograph. In fact, three full South American forests have been sacrificed solely for the paper used for this project.

The Solution for all these ailments can be found at NBC Camps. One week can begin your cure. Register today.