by Alan Stein
28. April 2008 06:00
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