Payton Pritchard on CJ McCollum's Pull-Up Podcast

Oregon point guard Payton Pritchard was a guest on CJ McCollum's podcast, and they asked him some really good questions about his training, how it has changed from year to year, and what he is doing now during the shut down.

The biggest takeaway that I had is the importance of finding ways to put in the work, especially during adversity and adverse times like this shut down that we are experiencing now.  Having a vision and a routine helps you stay on track.

How Did Your Training Change In Terms of Your Approach From Your Freshman Year to Senior Year?

"I have always been a hard worker and got in the gym a bunch, but with each year I've gotten smarter, with my training and what I needed to improve on, and got more consistent with the work.

A lot of guys can go work hard for a day or two, but you have to be consistent at working hard each and everyday.

I got better at improving my weaknesses and making them become strengths.  From my junior to senior year, my 3 point shooting percentage went up and I started shooting from deeper which made guys have to guard me from further out and opened my game up."

How Did Confidence Come Into Play For You?

"I always had the range and the ability to shoot, but the biggest thing was confidence.  My junior year, I had a lot of confidence issues and my confidence went up and down, and there was some low points.  Once I found my confidence again and believed in myself and in what I was doing, my confidence kept growing and my coaches believed in me."

Did Watching And Working With Pros Like Alan Crabb Help You Or Play A Roll In Your Growth?

I try to take things from anybody at any level.  They could be high school, college or NBA.  If I am in the gym with anybody and I see some that I like, I will add it to my game.  I like seeing the attention detail from others and how hard they work, and I just learn from that and add it to what I am already doing.

How Are You Training And Preparing For The Draft?

Its tough to get in a gym, but I can still work in other areas.  You can still do ball-handling and tighten that up as much as you can.  I wake up around 10 and go into the garage and do my ball-handling drills, jump rope, and quick feet stuff.  That takes about an hour and is my morning session.  I run hills at about 3:00 or 4:00, and at night I do some different strength stuff, like lifting weights and stuff like that.

CJ said his team talks about staying ahead of the curve.  "A lot of people have the 'woe is me mentality' where they feel sorry for themselves, not work, and use this time to relax, and that is when you catch and pass people.  Because our options are limited, there are only a few people who are going to work through this crises in terms of working on their game, improving, and coming out of this with something.  It's like when you break your right hand; how do you tighten up your left?  This is a time to really seperate yourself from a lot of other people.  Everybody is not working the same.   A lot of people have talent, but they don't know how to utilize it and many are just too lazy to utilize it.  During this time, take advantage of your resources so that you are coming out of this ahead.

What Is Your Best Advice For High School Players Looking to Get To The Next Level?

My best advice for high school players looking to play at the next level is you have to spend time in the gym and you have to love it.  What players don't understand about the next level is that it is a time commitment, so you have to be ready for that and you really have to love the game.  If you don't, it will get really difficult and you won't like your life at times.