Why Is Energy Important?

I was on a Zoom meeting, and the superintendent in our district asked the group, 'Why is energy important?'

I am a big believer in bringing energy and enthusiasm to everything that I do.  My coach in college always preached about the importance of bringing your own energy to practice and games and that your energy is contagious.

Everything is really just made up of vibrating energy.  We are energy.  "Energy powers machines and moves our bodies. It is exchanged in every interaction. Energy is the unseen force necessary for growth, development, and change."  Energy is what we are made of and it makes us go.  The more energy that you have, the farther you can go.  The more POSITIVE energy that you have, the farther you can go in the right direction.

Energy powers your thoughts, your emotions, and your actions, so it is important to have the 'right' energy.  Having the right energy at practice leads to a more productive workout where teams are working together, challenging each other, and helping each other push through adversity.  We only have so much time in a day and in the gym, so it is important to get the most out of each workout.  When teams show up with the right energy, they get more out of the time that they are spending in the gym.

Energy is important because it powers what we do and how we do it.  When we have the right energy, we can go harder, we can go farther, and we can go about it in a positive, beneficial way.  And energy is contagious - your energy is shared anytime that you come in contact with someone or something else, so the energy that you bring is important for yourself, your teammates, and anyone that you connect with.  When you have good energy, it leads to good relationships.

What kind of energy are you bringing?

The Goal of Every Practice

I heard a great speaker talk about the importance of being purposeful in practice.  

He said that every practice should have two goals:

1 - Every individual gets better and FEELS better and more skilled.   Players have more fun when they are more skilled because they have more possibilities and solutions available, and they are more confident.

An everyday goal should be to GET BETTER.

2 - The team should be more prepared to win games.

I would add that another goal should be that athletes are more prepared to win at life as well.

'THAT IS WHAT WE WORKED ON'

He uses the phrase, 'Thats what we worked on to constantly reinforce and reward teaching points.  He says that we want our players to always come back to understanding what we are working on and if it is helping us become better players and teams, he does that by using the 3 Rs:

Reinforcing what we teach.
Reminding what we teach.
Rewarding and noticing progress.

A big key in the teaching process is following FEEDBACK with ACTION.

When you make a great teaching point, give your players the chance to implement it immediately.

Don't delay or move on because SUMMARY FEEDBACK gets lost.

Connect feedback immediately to an action and let them apply it.

It's Not About How You FEEL

There are many reasons that athletes don't achieve their goals, but one reason they don't make it is because they run into opposition, adversity, or what they feel and and don't feel like doing, and they didn't know how to stand against adversity and their feelings and work their way through it.

The journey is hard, and we might not always feel like putting in the work necessary to keep progressing to the next level.  We sometimes let how we feel hold us back.

I don't feel like getting to the gym early.
I don't feel like getting these extra sprints in.
I don't feel like touching this line.
I don't feel like doing this at-home workout.

Don't wait and see how you feel before you decide what you are going to do.  You decide what you are going to do, led by the Spirit, and if your feelings don't like it you just take them with you anyways.  Do what you know you are supposed to do.

Charlotte Hornets Competive Shooting | Jay Hernandez

"Hard work is just the price of admission.  Be dedicated.  Be determined.  Work to be great at your craft.  Be patient.  Knock on the door.  Continue to work.  Continue to learn.  Good things happen over the course of time."

"The most dangerous person over the course of time is the one who is constantly improving."

Both quotes above were given by Charlotte Hornet's assistant coach Jay Hernandez.  He also shared the following competitive shooting drills that he uses with the Charlotte Hornets.  These are great tools for your players to have.  

We Are First In The Business To Inspire

Below are some notes that I took from a speech by basketball trainer David Thorpe.  The speech was titled, 'We are first in the business to inspire.'  There were some good notes about building culture, mentoring and inspiring your people, embracing the merry-go-round, and scientists vs artists.

Be A Culture Builder
Culture is everything.  Some of the best coaches aren't great Xs and Os, but they are great motivators and culture builders.  Their teams would do ANYTHING to WIN, and the way that they cared about each other was like family.  This is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than being a great Xs and Os guy.

Teach your players how to respect the game, respect their teammates, respect their coaches, and respect themselves.  Encourage your players to be the best TEAMMATES that they can be.

The CULTURE of a team is as important as anything else.  Take the time to invest in the culture and developing great TEAMMATES.

We Are In the Business to Inspire 
We are first in the business to INSPIRE.  If we just are delivering information to the people listening to us without first inspiring them, then we are failing them.  We have to inspire them.  We have to see and communicate they CAN be, then we have to help them get there.

One of the best, most powerful things that we can do as coaches is to see something BIGGER in our athletes than they can see for themselves, to give them a BIGGER vision or dream than they have because of what we see in them, EFFECTIVELY communicate that vision or dream to them, and then give them the tools to become the vision or dream.

Coaches have the ability to change the lives of the athletes that we coach based on how we see them, how we communicate with them, and the tools that we give them to become who they CAN become.

Try to see the absolute, best version of your athletes. Try to see their 'best-case scenario.' Share that vision with them. Be honest about how hard they have to work to achieve it, and we have to be skilled enough as coaches to help them grow into the vision. But this is how you can change a kid's career and life.


Mentor People, Not Players
We have to understand that our job is to mentor young people.  Value quality PEOPLE.  If we are only inspiring them to be better players, then we are failing.  We need to reach them on a deeper level.  Our job is to be brutally honest with them, but don't be afraid to teach them how to dream really big and how to grow to reach those dreams.

Embrace The Merry-Go-Round
Competitive sports are like a roller coaster.  I always tell players to 'Get off of the roller coaster and find joy in the merry-go-round.'  Competitive sports are full of ups and downs.  We want to have ups and downs like the merry-go-round and not the high peaks and low valleys of a roller coaster.

Be The Light Switch
Be a light switch.  When you flick the switch, the light doesn't ALWAYS come on.  The bulb can be out, the power can be out, there could be short, etc.  But the light switch doesn't get down if the light doesn't come on; it keeps doing its job.  All we can do is our job.  We can't worry too much about the result, but we should always be asking ourselves, 'Did I do my job, did I do it correctly, and did I do it to the best of my ability.'  The best shooters miss 6 out of 10 shots.  Hall of fame hitters can fail 2 out of 3 times.  You can't control everything, but you can control yourself, your effort, your commitment, and your responses.

Be Racers, Not Runners
When you have the ball, race to the basket until someone stops you.  If you are running in transition, don't run, race.  Find ways to increase your value without a play being run for you.

Scientist vs Artist
Players tend to fall in one of two categories:  Scientists or Artists.

Scientists analyze everything.  They want data, they want numbers, and they want specific answers to specific questions.  They need processes, structure, and order.

Artists don't want to overthink it.  They see patterns more naturally and they have a natural feel for the game.  It's a feel thing for them, so you can't overdo it for them with too much of a focus on numbers and processes.  You give them ideas and boundaries to work in and let them work, while scientists want all of the steps.  

Everyone Should Be Able To Score At The Rim
We talk all of the time about being able to stretch the court, but it has to start at the rim.  The anchor is at the rim.  Can you get to the basket and score?  Make the defense collapse, then you can stretch the court by being able to shoot from the perimeter.  Give them a plan.  Turn and score with the right and left.  Shot fake step through.  

Don't foul, play the right angles, make them shoot over you.  They will miss most of their shots.  

Leadership is Breathing Spirit To Your Followers
Leadership is breathing spirit into the hearts and the minds of others.  Breath hope, optimism, energy and positivity in your players so that they can do the same for the people that they connect with and love the most.

The COURAGE to Coach

"I was fortunate to have coaches who had the COURAGE to coach me. They weren't trying to be my friend or hang out with me. They said this is what you HAVE to do: Be a good person, go to school, go compete!!"

I heard NBA legend Isaiah Thomas say this on a podcast yesterday when talking about his coaches. At every level, he played for tough, demanding coaches.

A lot of high-level coaches say that we have to have a more relationship-based approach to effectively reach, teach, and inspire today's athletes. We have to be ready to explain the why behind our methods, and we have to build relationships so that our athletes trust us and let us in.

But we still have to COACH and TEACH. We still have to hold them accountable and hold them to the standards that we set, and we have to have the courage to correct when needed.

A high-level soccer coach said that the best coaches he sees are coaches who are able to hold their players accountable and correct them while still giving them the praise that they need to confidently work through mistakes during the learning process and while competing.

The 5 Stages of Success

One of the positives about Social Media is that we can see what people like us are doing around the world.  We can see the skills and talents of athletes our age everywhere, so we can compare ourselves to the best, we can measure ourselves against others, and we can see what we do well and see where we can improve.

There are cool things being done and shared everywhere on Social Media.  Use that as inspiration to go work on your game.

The downfall of Social Media is that we don't see the grind behind each post.  We only see the one, perfect, finished post, but we don't see the many mistakes before and after that post was shared.

We have to make sure that we understand that a lot of work goes into being great at something.  A lot of work goes into that one post, or that one skill, or that one perfect shot.  It really is a process of messing up over and over again, learning from your mistakes, grit, resilience, and perseverance.

One of the most important things to learn is to not get too frustrated when you can't do what you see others do.  You don't know how many times that person messed up before they were able to post that video.  They went through the same struggle that you did.  They just didn't quit until they got it down.

Doing a trick or new skill that your coach taught you or that you saw on IG is like playing a video game.  There are levels that you have to move through before you can beat the game, and some games take longer than others to beat, just like some moves and skills take longer to master.

Just keep working on it.  Try to breakdown the move or skill into individual parts or micro-skills.  Master each micro-skill separately and build from there.  Feel the excitement when you master one micro-skill and use that as momentum to move on to the next micro-skill.

Celebrate when you do a skill right for the first time, then work until you can do it consistently.  Celebrate when you can do a skill consistently then work until you have mastered it.  You know you have mastered it when you can do it almost every time, on command, without messing up.  

When you move on to the next skill or move, don't forget this process.  When you get frustrated, look back at some of the skills that you have learned and mastered before.  Think about other skills that you have mastered that used to be hard for you.  Use your past success for future motivation!

Coaching This Generation

Coach Frank Martin is known for being a tough, hard-nosed, old school basketball coach.  He was asked how he has changed his coaching style and philosophy and mindset while working with today's athlete.

He said that he hasn't changed his style and what he believes in, but he has had to find PEACE in having more PATIENCE today.  

Kids transfer and leave earlier and more often today, and parents don't make their kids stay and go through adversity like they once did.  We have to be more PATIENT because they haven't been prepared to handle a tougher environment.

Young people learn DIFFERENTLY now than they used to.  They now have so much information and they don't know what to do with it all.  They don't care how we grew up, what we had to go through, and what and how we had to learn.  

They want to know that we CARE about how they learn, and we have to ADAPT to comprehend and learn about THEIR environment, THEIR learning styles, and what's important to THEM so that they allow US in.  When they allow us in, then they are more willing to understand where we are coming from.

He was then asked about the guard that players put up and how they are afraid to be vulnerable.  Athletes need to build a level of resiliency to get to the highest levels, but how do we get them to let their guard down, to be vulnerable, and to allow us to coach them?

He said that we have to earn their trust.  We always talk about how players have to earn the coach's trust, but we have to earn their trust too if we want to reach them at a level where we are able to teach them and for them to respond to us.  It's no different than our own children.  When our own kids feel that we don't give them our time or willingness to understand them, then our own children will tune us out.

Now, more than ever, communication about everything with players is so important.  And we are always fighting to earn their trust.  Back in the day, we had no way of accessing information from other people.  We only knew what our parents, teachers, or our coaches told us because they were the boss.  When they would tell us that the sky was blue, we would believe it because that was what they said, not what we saw.  Now it's different.  These kids have access to so much information and to so many people, and social media has become so important in their lives.  Whether we like it or not, it's not going away so we have to find ways to build relationships and build trust with the people that we teach and coach and lead so that we can better understand them and who they are.

When they get on campus, we have to be in constant conversation with them because they have so much information and so many people in their ears.  If there is any doubt in their minds about their relationship with you, then when they are away from you, they are going to believe those voices rather than believe in what you are saying.

This is where we have to make adjustments as we are earning young peoples' trust; that we understand that and that we find patience as we go through this journey with them.

Compete

At the start of every basketball practice, in the middle of every basketball practice and at the end of every basketball practice, I talk to my young team about the word 'compete.'

That is the central theme of our team.  I want them to know that we might not always be the best, we might not always win, but we will always give ourselves a chance by competing.  

We talk about what the word compete means, what it looks like in n practice, and how we can compete with ourselves and others today.

We self-assess and talk about our level of competition in practice.  We talk about areas that we competed hard in, and we talk about areas where we could have competed harder.

I tell them that when a team plays against us, they need to know that it will be a tough game and that they will have to play hard and well to beat us.

We talk about how important it is to compete with and against their teammates every drill because iron sharpens iron.  We also talk about how to appreciate our teammates for competing with us and making us better and how to come together at the end of practice and how to have strong relationships with your teammates.  We don't want to leave practice upset with our teammates on a personal level because of competition and because we were pushing each other.

We talk about how important it is to compete with themselves and to give their all every drill.  I tell them about Kobe Bryant and how it was a goal of his to overachieve by competing with himself to be the best that he can be.

- Be the first to the ball.
- Win the loose balls.
- Grab and secure rebounds.
- Touch every line.
- Run through every line.  Don't stop early.
- Beat your man down the court.
- Cut your girl off.
- Rotate and help.
- Don't make excuses; find solutions.
- Be early and prepared to work.

Compete.

Be A GREAT Teammate

BEING A GREAT TEAMMATE should be a goal of every athlete playing team sports and the goal of every parent for their young athletes.  One of the positive side effects of team sports is learning how to work with and compete with others.  This is a skill that will stick with you for the rest of your life.

Make it a goal to be the BEST teammate on the team.  Make it a goal to bring positive energy to every practice and every game.  Make it a goal to push your teammates so that they can be the best that they can be, and make it a goal to pull them along by encouraging.

Your teammates might not always treat you right, but you can only control what you can control and how you treat others.

When people first think about NBA star Carmelo Anthony, 'great teammate' isn't usually the first thing to come to mind.  But in an interview on the Pull Up Podcast with CJ McCollum, he was asked about his favorite teammates, and Melo had a very insightful response:

"Andre Miller was the ultimate, ultimate teammate.  He never complained.  He came to work every day.  He worked hard.  He knew the game and he knew what he had to do to prepare for the game.  That's how I gauge teammates - what do you do to prepare?  What is your mindset to prepare for battle?  If I could learn from that, then I feel like you were one of my best teammates."

He said that he tried to make everybody feel comfortable playing with him and being on his team.

He emphasized that he judges teammates based on how they prepare, not necessarily the relationship, but how a guy gets ready to play.

He said that he doesn't judge a teammate based on the relationship but on how they prepare to play.  

"How do you prepare?  How do you come to work, every single day?  How do you get along with everybody?  How do you get along with rookie and how do you get along with a 15-year vet?  How do you treat the audio-visual guy?  That is how I judge my teammates.  When we are going into the trenches, where are you at?  What is your preparation?  What is your mindset?  What are you thinking about?  Are you willing to put your mind and your body on the line to do what it takes to win this one basketball game?  Can you lock-in?"

Melo said it took several years in the NBA to learn what it took to be a great teammate.  He said he didn't know what it was like to come in early and leave late.  He didn't know what it was like to take care of his body and get the proper treatment and stretch and ice.  He said as he got older, he realized the importance of taking care of his mind and body and how to make it a part of his lifestyle.  

Being a great teammate makes you better, it makes the team better, and it makes the experience better.  Being a great teammate is a skill that will follow you everywhere you go.  Be a great teammate by being prepared, by pushing and pulling your teammates, and by bringing positive energy and enthusiasm every day.  Be a great teammate by helping everybody feel welcome and comfortable.  

Kid Activities During Quarantine

With kids stuck in the house, I think it's important that we have good activities to fill the time productively at home.

YouTube has everything that we need to make sure that our kids are stimulated athletically and academically.

Here are a few things my daughters did today, plus some other resources that I have seen.  Hopefully these resources can help your kid stay on track and busy during this shut down.

In The Lab - This is a GREAT resource for basketball.  He has a great video series that can occupy your time and that you and your family can dive into, and he has a series where he breaks down ball-handling drills that your athletes can follow at home:

Progressive Soccer - This channel does a great job of providing different types of soccer content.  We started with doing a couple of rounds of their footwork soccer drills:

I found this video for our footwork:

And this video for an at-home Plyometric workout:

John Beck has a solid Twitter page full of inspirational material.  He posted these 2 workouts recently:

Alan Stein is a trained who has worked with guys like Kevin Durant.  He posted this simple workout on his Twitter page:

Also, for academics, Khan Academy is a GREAT resource.  You can setup an online account for free and get the kids working on any subject and at any grade/age level.  

Please check this out!

https://www.khanacademy.org/

If you need any help, resources, or anything during this shutdown, please reach out.  I have seen coaches text daily or weekly workouts for their athletes.  They could be mole runs, bike rides, etc.  Also, if you have any resources, please let me know.  We have to work together during times like this.

Be RELENTLESS | Cole Anthony

Cole Anthony is one of the top college basketball players.  An assistant UNC basketball coach said that Cole Anthony is one of the most focused people that he has ever been around.  He said that one of the things that makes Cole Anthony great is that everyday he makes it his goal to RELENTLESSLY work and try to be the best that he can be.

Coach Wooden has a famous quote that said, 

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” 

“Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.”

Work hard.  Stay focused.  Do your best and good things will happen.

Invite Them To Your Calm, Not Join In Their Storm

When an athlete is blowing up because they didn't get the ball, or didn't get the call or didn't make the play,

INVITE THEM TO YOUR CALM.  DON'T LET THEM INVITE YOU TO THEIR STORM.

Stay calm, stay cool, and calm them down so that you can diagnose the problem and find a solution.

The same can be said for a mad parent.  I had a parent try to rip into me after a basketball game because of his daughter's playing time.  She was a starter, but she didn't play in the final minutes of a close game because her backup was on a roll.  We played above our heads, but we lost.  

Immediately after the game, the athlete came to me crying and upset and seeking answers as to why she wasn't allowed to finish the game.  Her dad felt like he needed to come to the rescue of his distraught daughter and continued the storm in my direction.

A younger version of me would have been easily invited into both of their storms, and it would not have been good for anybody.  The older version of me stayed calm, listened to their concerns, validated their concerns, and calmly reminded them about the team rule that we don't discuss playing time with parents and we don't discuss the game until we have slept and our adrenaline has gone down.

The next day, I calmly explained my reasoning as to why she didn't finish the game on the court and I backed it up with data and stats and film.  Dad still wasn't happy, but we were able to move on from a situation that could have gotten much worse.

In sports, storms come and go.  Between coaches, players, parents, and referees, there are so many storms brewing, exploding, and calming all of the time.  Sometimes its important to engage in a storm or heated discussion to motivate and/or inspire your athletes, but most of the time, engaging in a storm results in behaviors that damage relationships.

Don't Be Afraid To Lose

ATHLETES:  Don't be afraid to lose.  If you want to accomplish anything great, you can't be so afraid to lose that you don't put yourself out there, that you don't try your hardest, or that you won't try that new move that coach has been teaching you.

You will lose.  
You will mess up.  
You will experience failure.  
It's just a part of sports and it's a part of life.

The key is how you approach losing and how you handle it.

Don't let losing break you.  Understand that losing just teaches you what you need to do to get better.  Learn how to learn and grow from your mistakes, failures, and losses.  

There are few things worse than athletes who hold themselves back because they are afraid to do their best or afraid of a challenge because they are too worried about losing.  Don't stay at the same gym or the same field where you are always the best just so you can win all of the time.  It won't make you better.  When you play against athletes that you are better than, you are holding back your growth and you are helping them get closer to you.  Every time you play them, they are getting better, but that doesn't always make you better.

Go find better, older players and play against them - a lot.  Go find players that can beat you and keep playing them until you get good enough to beat them.

PARENTS: If you want your kids to keep getting better, worry less about them winning and find players, teams, and situations that will push them.  Your athlete won't reach their highest potential playing in leagues where they always go undefeated and don't get challenged.  There is power in winning and developing a winning mindset.  Winning is fun and it keeps kids coming back.  But its important to learn how to lose too and how to overcome adversity.

The Law of Momentum: Make the Next Play

Whenever I am coaching against a really good shooter, my biggest goal is to make their first 2-3 shots tough, contested misses.

This sets a tone for my team and can affect the shooter mentally.

Striking first like this can be applied to any sport:

Rushing a QB into making an errant first pass.
Force a drop by the Wide Receiver on his first target.
Score a quick goal or stop a goal early.
Get a lead-off hit or homerun.

Sports are just as much mental as they are physical.  So many games are won mentally during the first few possessions.  This is why having a sense of urgency and being ready to play are so important.

The Law of Momentum is real.

When you are on the negative end of this, and you miss your first few shots or get lose the ball early or make any kind of early mistakes have a Next Play Mentality.

Just focus on making the next play a positive one.  Any one play can change the momentum for your team.  Just make the next play.  Then make the next one.  Then, the next one.

Contest one shot and rebound.  Contest the next shot and rebound.  Then do it again.  That is how games are won, and practice is for working on those skills needed to make those plays consistently so that it translates into the game.

Make Them Play You

"Make your coaches play you.
Make them regret NOT playing you.
There is always someone out there who wants your position or wants the position that you want.
You have to fight for your spot. 
Every day.
Fight for your minutes.

You have to grind it out because if you don't, someone else will."

This was a message that the mother of Steph and Seth Curry left on a recent podcast.  We now know Steph as a 2-time NBA MVP and one of the most popular players in the world, and younger brother Seth has created a great career for himself in the NBA, but fame and success was not always the case.

They were both overlooked coming out of high school.  They were only offered scholarships by smaller D1 schools, and many of the bigger schools felt that they were too small and not ready for the bigger stage.

But, they both kept grind, kept getting better, and are now doing very well for themselves in the NBA.

No matter where you are at and no matter what your circumstances are, if you have a dream, and a plan, the right work ethic, and some grit and resilience, you can overcome more adversity than you might realize.

It's Not How Good You Are NOW - Its How Good Are You GOING To Be?

It's not how good you are NOW that matters; its how good are you GOING to be.  But how do you get better, or great, at what you do?

Great coaching and a willingness to be coached are important factors in how we become the best that we can be.

When you try to make it on your own, you might not recognize the obstacles or lack of skills that are holding you back, or you might now know how to fix it.  When you go on your own, at some point, you stop improving.


When we have coaches who are watching us and want to help us grow and get better, we get to a different level of awareness.  Great coaches are your eyes and your ears.  They give you a better picture of your reality.  They break down your actions and they help you build them back up again.  With great coaching, you get better.  

It might be painful; it can be hard being watched and criticized and told that you have to work on things.  There are periods where you feel like you are getting worse before you feel like you are getting better.  But if you have the right attitude, you realize how important and necessary good coaching is.

Coaches teach you the fundamentals and they teach you how to execute the fundamentals.  

Teams can be transformed because of great coaching.  Players can be transformed by great coaching.

Allow yourself to be coached.