I am thankful and honored to be going into my 2nd year as the head strength & conditioning coach for the basketball program at DeMatha Catholic High School. Last season was an amazing experience and we have high expectations for the 2011-2012 season.
2011 NCAA Championship Coach Jim Calhoun once said, “What’s difficult is winning consistently over time, year after year after year. To do that you have to build and maintain a culture of winning. That means establishing high standards, making everybody aware of them, and exhorting everybody to reach those standards every day.”
I can proudly confirm that DeMatha Basketball does that. While we are certainly interested in developing the best basketball players possible; we are also committed to developing better students, better citizens, and better young men.
Do you know who this is?
I am the most desirable thing in life. Without me no can be healthy, happy, or useful. Without me, the hidden wealth and vast resources of this earth would have no value.
Men and women who try to get along without me are characterless, selfish, undeveloped, useless, and unprofitable members of society.
I am behind every fortune, every art and science, every real achievement, and every victory.
People try to find substitutes for me hoping to secure a larger measure of happiness, peace, and satisfaction, but they are always left bitterly disappointed. Instead of gain, every substitute for me brings them loss.
I am greater than wealth, power, fame, or any acquired possession because I am the true source to which those things are acquired.
Who am I?
I am work.
Our program is excited for the opportunity to put in work this pre-season. The pre-season is a time of excitement. A time of anticipation. A time to lay the foundation for a successful season. And we will not take that opportunity for granted!
Many people are surprised at how little we do in the pre-season. But it’s not how much you do; it’s how well you do it! Our workouts are focused, intense, progressive, and purposeful. We are highly efficient in getting our players stronger, more explosive, and in tremendous basketball shape.
We will begin this schedule next week, after the Labor Day weekend:
Monday: Study hall, strength & mobility workout (45 minutes), agility & conditioning workout (45 minutes), position specific skill work (45 minutes), and organized pick-up (45 minutes)
Tuesday: Study hall
Wednesday: Study hall, strength & mobility workout (45 minutes), agility & conditioning workout (45 minutes), position specific skill work (45 minutes), and organized pick-up (45 minutes)
Thursday: Study hall, position specific skill work (60 minutes), and organized pick-up (60 minutes)
Friday: OFF
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: OFF
When I say ‘off’, that simply means we are not doing anything mandatory as a team. We still encourage our players to work on their game on their own (but not do any additional strength & conditioning… that will actually hinder their progress).
Here are two videos of the type of drills we encourage are players to do on their own:
Weak Hand Development: http://youtu.be/s1xZsRny790
Offensive Footwork: http://youtu.be/zfX7ubUtpk4
Train hard. Train smart.
Alan Stein
www.StrongerTeam.com
www.Twitter.com/AlanStein
www.Facebook.com/StrongerTeam
www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom
PS: And when it comes to hard work; we expect our players to give 100% mentally, physically and emotionally. 99% won’t get it done!
If 99.9% were good enough, then...
- 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes
- 1,314 phone calls will be misplaced by telecommunication services every minute.
- 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.
- 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year.
- 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.
- 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.
- 2 plane landings daily at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe.
- 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.
- 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.
- 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.
- 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year.
- 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the day today.