My goal has always been to create an extraordinary environment for elite level basketball players to improve their basketball specific athleticism. An environment for dedicated players to work hard, yet have fun as well. I work hard to stay on the cutting edge of basketball specific training methodology, techniques, and equipment to make sure I fulfill my goal.
Dedication and commitment are essential for success in any endeavor, but especially in basketball. The game is so unbelievable competitive right now, if you aren’t dedicated, you won’t make it. That goes for everyone; from high school players to the NBA. Most novices take for granted how incredibly dedicated NBA players are. Many of these guys are up early in the morning for individual skill work, come in mid-day for their strength & conditioning work, then off to another individual skill session and then play pick-up at night. They do that 5-6 days a week. That is dedication!
On the topic of dedication, a powerful quote comes to mind (which was shared to me by the legendary Coach Don Meyer):
“There are two kinds of pains in life. The pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Take your pick.”
Everything in life, whether shopping for a new a TV or chasing your dream of playing in the NBA comes down to three simple questions:
1) What exactly do you want? (play college/pro basketball)
2) What does it cost? (time, effort, consistency)
3) Are you willing to pay the price? (make sacrifices, be focused and dedicated)
While listening to one of Coach Meyer’s stories he mentioned he heard that in his prime, Tiger Woods used to make 100 9-ft putts in a row to end every practice. That is 100 consecutive putts. If he missed his 92nd putt, he started over! That is dedication. I figure an appropriate equivalent for basketball players are free throws. Are you dedicated enough to end every workout with 5 or 10 or 20 consecutive free throws? Tiger went on to say, “If people knew how hard I worked they wouldn’t think this came so easy to me.” I guess it is true; champions are made when no one is watching!
Another example of dedication is what’s known as the NBA “early bus.” There are two buses that head to the arena before every NBA road game. One heads over 3 hours early and one heads over an hour and half early. The guys that head over on the early bus are usually rookies, guys fighting for playing time, guys on 10 day contracts, etc. Guys that need to put in the extra work as often as possible. They head over early to get up shots, work on their ball handling, and sometimes even lift weights. These guys are dedicated to getting better every day. Legend has it NBA superstar Tim Duncan continued to take the early bus every game, even after his legacy and superstardom where solidified. In fact, the Spurs organization took notice and said “if our best player can take the early bus, then everyone can take the early bus.” Needless to say the Spurs only have one bus to games now!
The truly dedicated players understand dedication isn’t a sometimes thing, it is an all the time thing. There is no such thing as being “kind of dedicated.” You are either dedicated or you’re not; there is no in between.
Now the question is… are you dedicated?
Feel free to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com if I can ever be of service.
Train hard, train smart.
Alan Stein
Basketball Strength & Conditioning Coach
www.StrongerTeam.com
www.Twitter.com/AlanStein
www.Facebook.com/StrongerTeam
Alan Stein is the owner of Stronger Team and the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the nationally renowned, Nike Elite DeMatha Catholic High School basketball program. Alan is a performance consultant for Nike Basketball as well as the head conditioning coach for the annual Jordan Brand All American Classic and the Nike Summer Skills Academies. Alan is a Camp Coach at the prestigious NBA Players Association’s Top 100 Camp as well as the Chris Paul CP3 Elite Backcourt Camp. He is the former strength & conditioning coach for the McDonald’s All American game. His passion, enthusiasm, and innovative training techniques make him a world renowned expert on productive training for basketball players.
