I strongly believe that showing pride in yourself and in your work is a much underappreciated notion in today’s society and many people think you should only have pride in a glamorous or high profile job.  That is BS. I have so much respect for anyone, in any line of work that takes great pride in doing their job to the absolute best of their ability.  Regardless of what you do for a living, committing yourself to excellence and embracing your role within your company, organization, family or team is vital to being successful. 
 
There is a gentleman who works outside of the facility I train who takes great pride in his work.  He washes and details cars in the parking lot and he does an outstanding job.  He is always positive, enthusiastic, and full of energy… even at 6am!  That is very hard to find. He treats each and every customer as if they are his only customer and cleans and details each car as if it was his own.  He takes great pride in his work and it shows.  This gentleman is, and will continue to be, very successful in life.
 
As far as basketball, you should take pride in your work too.  You should approach every workout and every practice with same vigor as my man detailing cars. You should commit yourself to excellence, every rep of every drill. You should imagine a top level college or NBA coach is watching your entire workout or practice and then give the same effort and focus as if they were.  You should also embrace your role on your team, as there are no unimportant roles.  Even if you are the 15th man, you should embrace that role and take pride in your job – making the others members of your team better and supporting the players who do play more.  I have known dozens of “15th men” who have gone on to be very successful people, in basketball and in life.
 
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

One of the most dangerous things to happen to any basketball player, at any level, is complacency. In all honest, complacency is dangerous in any walk of life. Whether in your relationship, at your job, in school, or as an athlete, complacency is a killer.  Complacency is usually a feeling that you have already achieved enough and don’t need to work hard any more.  It is feeling completely satisfied with yourself.  Don’t get me wrong, you need to pat yourself on the back every now and then and acknowledge when you have worked hard, played well, or feel good about how you performed on the court.  But after that quick pat, you need to get back to work!  Don’t ever forget, “what got you here won’t get you there!”

Even Kobe Bryant, who has every reason in the world to feel satisfied with his accomplishments and who, if anyone, should be allowed to be complacent… keeps putting in the work.  He never stops working.  He finally won the NBA’s MVP, after 12 seasons.  Think he’s gonna stop now? Hell no! I bet he works even harder to win another… and another… and another.  If the Laker’s end up winning the championship this year, think Kobe will be satisfied with that and get complacent this summer?  Not a chance.

Kevin Durant just won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.  Guess what he’s doing?  He is in the gym with me working to get stronger! While is certainly proud of his accolade (and should be), it has only wet his appetite to becoming the best player he can be.  KD is definitely not complacent.

Another one of my favorite quotes is “today is always over tomorrow.”  That means you can’t keep living off of what you did today, you need to keep working to improve.  If you won a big AAU tournament this past weekend, great!  But that was this past weekend; it is time to move on.  When is your next tournament?  That is the one to focus on, not the one that is already over and done with!

And I see complacency with players all of the time. Some have outstanding junior years and think they will automatically be successful as seniors.  Some sign early with a big time college and think the next level will be as easy as high school.  Don’t let this happen to you!

One of the best ways to avoid complacency is to make it your goal to improve a little bit each day.  Think about it, if you get a little bit better 365 days a year, imagine how that progress adds up!  As far as strength training, imagine if you add those little old 2.5 lb plates to your barbell bench press once a month and your bench press will increase 60 lbs in one year!

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

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak to several hundred high school coaches at a Nike Championship Basketball Clinic in Des Moines, Iowa.  I always enjoy and am honored to speak that these events and am very appreciative to Mr. Ed Janka for giving me the opportunity to be a part. While I was in town I also filmed a commercial that will be in NBA TV next season and several YouTube sound bites for my MVP DVD… so keep an eye out!
 
I was fortunate enough to see two speakers when I was finished demonstrating my drills, Mike Pricopio (Director of Basketball Skills Development for Attack Athletics) and Bob Huggins (head coach at West Virginia).  Both did a fantastic job and were a pleasure to watch.  Both of these guys had a similar theme – you don’t need a lot of “fluff” in your workouts or practice, stick to the basics and you will be successful!
 
I have known and worked with Mike for a few years and he does an outstanding job.  He is a great teacher and really knows is stuff.  Mike works in Chicago with legendary trainer Tim Grover.  Mike works on skill development with many of the NBA’s top players including Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade.  I really appreciate the fact that even when working with two of the best players on the planet, Mike keeps his drills basic, efficient, and intense (everything except the warm-up is done at game speed).  Mike pays close attention to footwork and makes sure each move is efficient.  Why take 4 steps to get off your shot if you only need 2?  Why take 2 dribbles if you can get there in 1?  Mike does an tremendous job setting up a variety of drills that utilize the entire court, moving without the ball, shots off the dribble, shots off the pass, ways to create space, and using both strong hand and week hand.  And he does all this with NO fluff! I would love to see more players today using this philosophy.
 
Coach Huggins had a similar theme regarding the basics.  He doesn’t run many sets at WV, he simply works every day in practice on proper spacing, making direct passes, and NOT turning the ball over.  He has treadmills at his practice that players have to run sprints on every time they turn the ball over.  That is a sound way to get kids to value the ball! Valuing the ball and not turning it over is about a basic of a principle as you can get.
 
If you would like to contact me about this blog, the MVP DVD, my training and/or camps and clinics, please email me and Alan@StrongerTeam.com and  I will respond as quickly as possible!
 
Train hard.  Train smart.
 
Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS