Right now is the pinnacle of the off season for both high school and college basketball players.  Whether you are trying to move up from the JV to the Varsity or you are preparing for the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando at the end of the month, now is time to focus on your strength training, conditioning and basketball fundamentals.  What you do today will determine if you are successful once the season starts.  Are you putting in the work?

A colleague of mine from Florida was kind enough to send me a DVD with numerous motivational clips on it, from a variety of different coaches and sports figures.  I have always loved that kind of stuff as I find it very inspirational to listen to the words of wisdom of those who have reached the pinnacle of their profession. One clip in particular stood out.  It was an old, old video clip of Jimmy Valvano of NC State.  For those too young to know his work, Coach Valvano was not only a great coach (he led the Wolfpack to arguably the most shocking NCAA Championship of all time), but a very dynamic public speaker. I get goose bumps every time I hear him speak.  He was one of a kind. Here is the gist of his message:

Every morning when you wake up you have only two choices.  To work hard or not to work hard.  That’s it.  No other choices.  Either you work hard or you don’t.  It’s pretty simple.  If you choose not to work hard, I am telling you that you will fail. If you choose to work hard, I am telling you still might fail!  How is that for a deal? Success is not guaranteed, but it is impossible without hard work.  And trust me; failure is an important part of being successful.  Every successful person in the world has failed at some time.

And it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are in your life, you always have these two choices to make every single morning.  Suppose you missed two free throws with 3 seconds left in the championship game of a huge AAU tournament and lost by 1.  What choice do you have the next morning? Same as before, work hard or don’t work hard.  Are you going to wallow in self pity or are you going to wake-up and shoot 200 free throws? Which option will at least give you a chance to be successful next time? Suppose you finished your college career and have had the lifelong dream of playing in the NBA, but when the draft rolls around David Stern never calls your name.  What now? Are you going to work hard or not work hard?  Don’t ever quit on yourself.  A lot of people will quit on you when things get tough, but don’t ever quit on yourself.

Now is the time to wake up every morning and make the conscious decision to put in work.  To push your body and mind to the limit.  Tonight when you go to bed, ask yourself this:

“Today I just traded 24 hours of my life for what I got today.  Am I happy with the trade?”

If you would like to contact me about this blog, the MVP DVD, my training and/or camps and clinics, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.  I will respond as quickly as possible!

Train hard.  Train smart.

Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS

Let me start by saying this particular blog is purely my opinion.  I have made the conscious choice to not look up or use any research or studies on this matter, this purely what I know in my own research lab – the weight room and the basketball court!

However, it is the opinion of one of the top basketball strength and conditioning coaches in the nation, so it is definitely valid and most certainly accurate.  I have trained thousand of basketball players of all ages and levels in the past 10 years, from the last kid on the JV team to college players of the year to 12 year NBA veterans. Feel free to visit my bio and testimonials atwww.StrongerTeam.com.

Most plyometric shoe companies claim that you will “gain 5-10 inches on your vertical” and “take .2 seconds off of your 40 time.” My parents taught me when I was very young that if something seems too good to be true… it usually is.  Is it possible for you to attain these results?  Of course it is possible.  Is it likely? Probably not.  There is no way a company can even make that claim without knowing your age, your current fitness level, your genetic predispositions, and your training experience. Yet they make this claim to everyone.  Seriously, how can they claim everyone can gain 5-10 inches on their vertical.  Could your grandma? I know mine couldn’t! 
If you are 14 years old, in average shape, have good genetics, and have never trained before then you may very well make those types of gains.  However, you could make those same (if not better) gains doing a more conventional strength and conditioning program (like the MVP program).  I will tell you this, if you are 23 years old, already in great shape, have average genetics, and have been seriously training for 4-5 years… you will probably not add 5-10 inches to your vertical, and you definitely won’t “double your vertical or your money back.”  Why, because you have already closed in on your genetic potential. Can you still make great gains? Of course you can.  Should you still train to improve your vertical? Most certainly.

As the author of the MVP program I made it very clear prior to creating the program that I would not make any claims that someone would gain “x” number of inches on their vertical, because as I just mentioned, that would be impossible for me to predict without knowing the factors mentioned above. All I claim is that if you follow the program with effort and consistency, you will improve.  Maybe add 1 inch, maybe 4 inches, everyone’s results will be different.

Now, you can and will make improvements using platform shoes, I would be a fool to argue otherwise.  Why? Because you are still training progressively, you just happen to be wearing funny looking shoes while you are doing it!  Any training, if done progressively, consistently, and with effort will yield an improvement.  So is using platform shoes better than sitting on the couch? Of course it is! Is it better than a sound, structured, strength and conditioning (and plyo) program? I don’t believe so. 

While people have the right to make whatever claims they want, my main problem with platform shoes is their increased risk of injury.  They claim to “build the calf muscles and stretch the Achilles tendon.” Yet they do it in a way that drastically increases the potential for a twisted ankle or ruptured Achilles.  And tearing your Achilles is not a “take a few weeks off” type of injury; it is potentially a career ending one. 

It is my professional opinion that platform shoes are inherently dangerous, full of hype and outrageous claims, and certainly are not the safest or most productive way to increase one’s vertical jump.  Sensible, safe, and progressive strength training, conditioning, and appropriate plyometric training is the way to go!

If you have any questions or comments about this blog, feel free to hit me up at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.