Summer is your time to transform your game.

If you love basketball, summer is your time to take your game higher.

My son Jay, started really wanting to be a player much later than most kids his age. He started wanting to be a serious player around his 8th grade year. He met with me and his mentor, Shann Ferch, (former European pro) and mapped out what he needed to do during the summer to elevate his game.

Please understand, games will not improve your skills. They will only reveal what you know. The only way to get better is through specific skill development and repetition.

Jay took the summer time to put in hours of disciplined practice at camp, in the gym, and in the weight room working to be a serious athlete.

If you want to play basketball next season, you must work hard this summer.

First tip for the player who gets limited playing time and feels the coach doesn’t like your game.


The best way to deal with this problem is to become a different player over the summer. You need to walk in next fall transformed. Physical changes are big. Cut your hair or make a noticeable physical change which makes you look older and more intense, work out everyday, eliminate sugar and eat healthy, get the eye of the tiger. Have a personal workout. Go to camp, experience new changes. You will look older, you will be more confident and you will have a chance to change your coaches mind and help him or her see you with new eyes.

Second tip:


Attitude is everything. No one can control your attitude except you. The coach controls your playing time but he doesn’t control your attitude. Always think about the big picture. Many basketball players who seldom play that maintain positive attitudes in adversity, consistently cheer for starting players, and remain loyal to the program are the men and women of tomorrow will see this time in their lives as stepping stone to success.

Third tip:

Not all players are right for all coaches. If it truly is not a fit, and you could excel at a different program or under different coaching you need to pursue change.

Choose daily to have a positive mental attitude, work hard, and think big picture. Never quit!

“The Art of Off-Season Improvement”

When do players go from good to great?

Does it happen in front of thousands of screaming fans at the biggest game of the year? Does greatness fall upon someone only after a game-winning jumper smacks the net? Does it take an acrobatic, Kobe-esque, gravity-defying dunk to put you on the hoop map as one of the “great” players?

These may be the milestones that elevate a player in the fan’s eye, but the athletes who make it there, know it actually began long before those monumental moments took place. They can remember the countless days of giving up their free time in hopes of taking their game to the next level…the exhausting individual workouts where the idea of “greatness” became more than just a dream. The truth is, it’s in the off-season where greatness is grasped.

Many young athletes say they want to be great, say they want to play college or even pro someday, but only a few really take advantage of the off-season to improve their ability.

Just look at the top players today. Kobe Bryant has sky-rocketed to the ranks of the NBA elite in a very short time. Though a veteran now, Kobe became the youngest player to reach the 10,000 point mark.

Between hoisting the championship trophy in 2002 and tipping off the season in ’03, Kobe reportedly put in a grueling off-season workout, six-day-a-week, six-hour-a-day off-season program! Yikes!

Keep in mind that Kobe is one of the most well conditioned athletes in the world, but his dedication to improvement is a great example of what it takes to be great.

Another one who knows what it takes is Jackie Stiles. She’s the merciless and yet lovable 5-8 All American guard out of Southwest Missouri State who is the all-time leading scorer in the history of NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Stiles was the fourth pick in the 2001 WNBA draft going to the Portland Fire and was voted rookie of the year. The story of her workouts became something of a gossip piece during her senior year of college. The program began in high school and included making, not shooting, making 1000 shots a day, on occasion keeping her in the gym until the middle of the night.

Oh, by the way, she’s the all-time leading scorer in the history of NCAA Division I women’s basketball. Was that already mentioned? She averaged a modest 31 points per game during a senior season in which she shot 57% from the field and just under 50% from three. A check midway through the 2003 season on the men’s side showed the top scorer (per game) in the country was shooting under 41% from both the field and the three-point line. Stiles can play.

But for both Bryant and Stiles, success came with a price. For them, off-season is not about rest and relaxation, it’s perhaps the most physically and mentally trying time of the year. The great ones have turned off-season improvement into art.

Tips for Off-season Improvement:

*Develop a personal workout
Assess your game and decide which areas you really want to get better at, then develop a workout that involves both skill training and fitness training. Do this with an accountability partner or keep a journal of your progress.

*Be a student of the game
When you watch games, pay attention to more than the score. Pick out the good players, and figure out what they do well. Work to recognize what’s going on with the defensive and offensive strategies. Take notes.

*Come to an NBC Camp.
At camp you will experience several days of hard work, fun, motivation, and excellent skill training. Coming to camp will help you get better physically and mentally.

*Get out and play
You need a place to put your skills to work and have fun with the game of basketball. Find a place where you can get some good competition, play with and against good friends…and get out and play! Have fun.

ACT AS IF

An effective tool in improving performance is to “act as if” what you hope to achieve has already happened. Successful athletes have the ability to see in the mind’s eye the final result before it actually happens.

When you play basketball with an “act as if” mentality, your performance will improve because you play with increased confidence, resolve and mental toughness.

How to make the “act as if” concept work for you. The following is an example:

Guarding a Player in Practice You Want to Beat Out

1. Form a mental blueprint of guarding this player with great intensity.
2. Visualize how you will stop this player using the following strategies:
A. Force dribble drives to the weak side.
B. Make them catch the ball where they can’t score.
C. Make every dribble as difficult as possible.
D. Get a hand in the face so you don’t give up a good shots.

Pretend you have a tiger and mouse in your heart …
Be the tiger and make your opponent be the mouse.

It’s all about attitude!