It's an easy question to answer when asked..."Do you want to be a great player?"  When we ask our athletes that question you almost always get the unanimous answer of "Yes."  The real question is, who truly wants to put in the hard work, effort, time, and discipline to become great.  Of course everyone says the will do that, but as we all know... actions speak louder than words.

We tell our kids at workouts that they should spend at least 15-20 minutes a day on ball handling.  Ball handling is such an easy thing to do, plus it does not require a goal.  Think about it... during an hour long TV program, there are roughly 15 minutes of commercials.  Instead of sitting around during those commercials, why don't you work on your ball handling.  In a week, you will put in an extra 105 minutes of work, which comes out to 5,460 minutes a year, which is 91 hours extra work you put in.  Think about how much better your handle will be if you had 91 hours of work added to what it is now.

Shooting can be a bit harder to work on your game as you ideally need a goal.  Muscle memory is a huge part of shooting.  Muscle memory by definition is, " A kinesthetic phenomenon by which a muscle or set of muscles may involuntarily produce movement that follows a pattern that has become established by frequent repetition over a long period of time."  It takes countless hours to get your form down.  At a young age, developing your form is way more important than jacking up 3's.  Standing a foot away from the goal and continuously shooting "form" shots is a perfect way to work on you shot.  After thousands of times of doing this motion, your muscles start to memorize this form which translates to it being a natural motion.  When in a game, you do not even have to think about the correct form, because you have changed your muscle memory.

Being a student of the game is very importants to being a great basketball player.  Players who know and understand the game have and advantage over those who don't.  Watching film, seeing what you did correct and incorrect, and then applying that knowledge to your game can go a long way.  With technology and the resources that are out there today, there are so many ways to learn about your/the game.  Being able to take and handle criticism, even when it is not constructive will only improve your results.

Ask yourself the following questions:
Am I in shape?
Do I get enough sleep?
Do I eat right?
Do I use my time wisely?
Am I consistent?
Is my social life more important?
Am I mentally tough?

These questions can answer a lot about your game and whether or not you are willing to go the extra mile to be great.

The difference between good and great are those who go that extra mile and willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to get to that level.  What are you doing when no one is watching or telling you what to do?

"At one point in your life you either have the thing you want or the reasons why you don't."

Michelle Manfredi
Girls Director
Elite Hoops Basketball/NIKE Basketball Camps
"Release Your Potential"