2 Steps To Having Your BEST Off-Season Yet (Podcast Episode 93)

Foreign. Welcome to the Vision Gym battle training podcast. Appreciate you guys for tuning in. Apple podcasts, Spotify, anywhere else you're listening, and of course, everybody who's watching on YouTube. I appreciate you guys. I apologize for the layoff. I think the last episode was like end of February, beginning of March sometime in that. In that vicinity. I just needed kind of a break and I had a lot of stuff going on. That was when the season was kind of getting into playoff mode. And then training starts back up in full right after that. And it was a good opportunity for me to just kind of be able to reset and of course, pick up things that are gonna, you know, make the podcast better, have a little bit more time to just go back into learning mode. And that's where I'm at my best. I can bring my best to you guys. So again, I appreciate you guys who are still here who are sticking with me and I know I've been posting on Instagram and. But that all being said, podcast coming back, today's kind of an interesting episode and I'll talk about it in a second. But podcast coming back, so we can expect those and videos, workouts, stuff coming back on YouTube as well. So again, we're kind of kicking off, getting into the off season, which is what this episode is going to be about. So. So I appreciate you guys and I'm prepared and excited for this offseason. So hopefully you guys are as well. And this podcast, I think, is going to really help you guys kind of jump into that. So as you guys know, though, who have been here, if I get new reviews, I read them. So I do have one today from Matt Raleigh, and I hope I'm pronouncing that name right, but he said, best basketball podcast you can find. You've given so many steps to improve in basketball, such a fast rate. Also, you learn a lot about life with setting goals and working hard. That's the best thing with basketball, is that there's so much that translates to outside of just on the court and the lessons and stuff that you learned from the game of basketball. And I can tell you firsthand, there's stuff that I learned as a player that I'm still. Still benefits me to this day when I'm not playing on a team competitively. And it's just lessons that you learn and toughness that I think that you build through chasing after setting a goal and then chasing after that goal. I think that basketball teaches you. So I appreciate the support. If you guys don't have a podcast, do me a favor, leave a review, read it on the show if you've not done that before. And I think Spotify's ratings, too. So if you could do that as well, I'd appreciate it. Helps the show out, and we'll hop into it. So I said on my Instagram yesterday, I put out a poll asking for questions just about this offseason. And I was like, okay, guys, I'll read this on my show and, you know, we'll talk about it then, and I'll answer it in that. In that context. And I got so many. I was not even expecting to get as many questions as I did. And. And there were so many good questions, too. A lot of times when I put out polls and ask questions, you know, like, half the questions are, like, not questions I'm going to answer on my podcast, or they're like, really simple ones, or the stuff that I feel like I've talked about a million times, or they're super specific, so I can't really answer it. And that's usually a lot of the questions. But in this. This time, when I asked literally every question, just about everyone, I think I may have gotten 30 questions, and probably 28 of them are good, like, good questions. And so it would take me forever if I tried to do this episode and answer all those questions. So I'm gonna make that Q and A a separate episode. So if you ask me a question, you're waiting for that response. You're like, oh, why isn't it? Just wait till next episode. I'll go in kind of in depth, and there's some stuff that we'll talk about today that'll cross over a little bit, but I'll give you guys that specific context as well. So if you're hearing this and you're like, oh, I missed out. I didn't get a chance to ask a question. Just DM me on Instagram at Vision Driven Basketball and ask me that question. Just let me know, like, hey, this is for the show. This is for the Q and A. And I can't guarantee that I'm gonna be able to get through every single one. Again, I have 30 questions as of right now, so by the time the poll is done, it might be up at, like, 40. And I don't know if I'm gonna get through every single question, but I'll pick the best ones, get through as many as I can. So, like I said, you have a question for me? Send that to me. And that'll be next week's episode. So that's today, though. I wanted to kind of set the tone with the offseason and just talk about really two things to think about when it comes to making this your best offseason yet and putting yourself in a position to really make improvements and make big jumps this offseason. And whatever your goals are for next season, how can you actually go about achieving that? And so I'm going to talk about two specific points, and there's going to be, especially in the second point, a little bit more to dive into with that. But the first thing I want to talk about is you want to recap this year. Okay. So think about this past winter season, and you have to really be honest with yourself. What went well? What did you do well this year? What can you hang your hat on and say, hey, this was great. I can look to build on this going into next year. And then, of course, the opposite side, you have to look at, what did I not do well? What held me back this year? Where did I not feel comfortable this year? What shortcomings did I have this year? And the best way I think that you can. You can approach this is not saying, well, I need to get better at ball handling and finishing and shooting and defense and passing. And like, you can talk about every cat. Like, I don't think that's the best way to do it is to look at is, oh, all these different categories. There's 12, 15 things that I need to be better at. Okay, you can identify those, right? So you're going through and you're just recapping your season. You're looking at what you did well, what you didn't do well. You can write down all the things you didn't do well. If you felt there was 12 of them, that's fine. But I want you to specifically think about two or three areas you can really focus on. Now, this doesn't mean that every single time you go work out, you can only work on these two or three things. That doesn't mean that, but it just means that when you are in workouts or you're in pickup games or you're whatever, you can really focus in on those areas. Like, hey, I know I need to be better at finishing with my left hand. So I'm going to try and get to my left hand during this pickup game today so that I can work on those finishes. Okay, maybe I'm working on those finishes in my workouts. Now that I'm in a game context with defenders, I'm going to try and work on that because I know it's a weakness I need to get better at. That's why it's important to have two or three really key focuses when it comes to your weaknesses. You can say, hey, if I just get better at these two or three things, if I take these from being weaknesses to at least being average or above average, that's going to make me a way better player. If you can identify those things and it's much easier to focus on them, especially in the context of, you know, a pickup game or runs or a one on one or a two on two or something like that. Another great way to do this and to understand what your strengths are, your weaknesses are, is to watch your film. So if you have games that have been filmed from last year, go through and watch those games and identify not just things you did wrong. Maybe you say, I didn't shoot well this year. Well, what does that mean exactly? Where did you not shoot well from? Okay, what action was happening that caused you to not shoot the ball well? Was it that you didn't shoot the ball well off the dribble? Was it. You weren't comfortable going off the dribble, so you didn't, you weren't able to get to it, so someone took away your catch and shoot you, you didn't have another option. Well, that might tell you, hey, I need to develop the ability to attack a close out and get to a pull up. Or is it that you struggled hitting catch and shoot threes? You struggled shooting threes coming off of a relocation when somebody would drive and kick to you. Maybe you struggled shooting threes coming off of pin downs whenever your feet had to be moving. Can you identify those areas and really dive into the why behind? Why did I struggle in this area? Okay, a lot of times if you go back on film, there's going to be stuff that you saw that you didn't even notice. There's going to be opportunities you missed that you didn't even notice. And there's going to be. You'll be able to. You might know, like, hey, I was weak at this area, but you can go back and watch it. You really think about why you were weak or what caused that. A lot of times that can shed what that is in a whole new light for you. Okay, hey, I didn't finish. Really? I didn't finish well around the rim. Well, maybe that was because you tried to go in and finish over everybody. You tried to be giannis and you're 5 foot 9, so you can't try and Be honest, because you're not going to be able to finish over everybody. So. So maybe that means you have to figure out a way to. Okay, I need to work on getting to two feet on my finishes and using pump fakes and pivots and being a little craftier with my finishes. Now that's a way to actually make that specific so that you actually have a tangible thing to work on. It's not. I gotta get better at finishing? Well, no, I need to get better at getting to two feet and using pump fakes and pivoting and all that stuff around the rim, being patient on my finishes. Okay. And. And that's how you can actually be able to focus and key in on an area and be better at it. If, you know, shooting the basketball, hey, I didn't do a great job at shooting coming off of the dribble. Well, now you have an area again you can focus on right there. I need to get better at hitting shots coming off of one or two dribbles. Maybe that. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe if, you know, you could say, I need to get better at ball handling. Well, what specifically with ball handling is it that you don't have good control over the ball? Is that you don't handle the ball very well against pressure? Is it that you don't have. Your pace isn't very good, so you can't really beat your defender? What is it about ball handling you need to be better at? Just. But that's what film is going to be able to tell you. So it's important you go back and watch those games if you can, if you have access to that film so you can really understand, hey, this is what I didn't do well, and this is why, or this is what caused it, or this is the specific part of that skill that I can focus on. Then the other area with that is just talk to your coaches too. Okay? Ask them, what can I be better at? What's your thought on my season? A lot of teams do this anyway. They have their exit meetings or whatever. But I think it's important to get that feedback from coaches too. Or anybody really who is knowledgeable and has watched you and can say, hey, you could be better at this. It's important to take all that into consideration as well, because chances are your coach, if you guys have film, your coach has probably watched the film a lot. So what we just talked about how important film can be. I think it can really be insightful to get that input as well. So that's really the first point I want to make is you want to recap this season and figure out what went well, what didn't go well, but then get specific with it. So what about my finishing wasn't good, was it? My decision making on my finishes, was it, you know, maybe it wasn't that I didn't handle the ball well. Maybe I just made poor decision. I dribbled in the traps and I over dribbled too much and. Okay, can you find out the specific part of what about this was not good? Okay. And then identify that. So that's point number one. Point number two that I want to make is the three elements. This is probably what you're all here for, but the three elements of actually training and getting better this offseason. So there's going to be three different parts, I would say, and three, three main areas, and there's more that you can go into that you can get specific with it. But generally these are the three areas, the three elements of your off season that matter. And, and I'm going to go from, in my, my opinion, most important to least important. That's probably not the right way to put it. Not all the, all three of these are important for sure. So I want to make that point very clear. You need to, you need to have an idea of what you're doing with all three of these areas to really maximize your offseason. Again, this is what this podcast episode is about, is about making this your best off season yet, making sure you're prepared to really get the most out of your time, out of the time that you have over the next few months. So all three of these are important, but I would, I would say that the, especially the first area I would place as my. Almost my clear number one. And it can vary from person to person, I think, but for a lot of players, I think, and especially if you're listening to this, you probably fall into the category of a player who does put in a lot of work. So I'm going to imagine that this area is probably going to be the most beneficial for you. And, and that's playing. Just playing the game of basketball. Right? We play basketball because it's fun. Hopefully that's why you play basketball, because it's fun. Okay. But a lot of times it's weird because training and what we think about as getting better at basketball, we think that that can't be fun if you're having fun or if you go to the gym every day or the park every day and you're working in order to get better at basketball, your workouts have to be not fun. I have to be doing pound dribbles and I have to shoot 10,000 jump shots and I have to work on Mikins for six straight hours and that, that's how I get better at basketball. And that's the only way to get better at basketball is just by doing stuff that's not fun so that eventually I can go back to playing and having fun. I can be better at having fun when I play basketball if I just do all this stuff that isn't fun. And that's a lot of times maybe not, maybe you don't think about it that way, but a lot of times that's how it's approached is that training can't be fun. Training can't be as much fun as the game is because it's just not supposed to be that way. And that's all the times of thought. But really I think that playing is the MO is the number one most important area when it comes to getting better at basketball. Okay. And I'm going to dive into this but this can mean pickup. So like five on five and you know, ideally you know, against the best competition you can find. Right, that's the best type of pickup. But it can also be 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, small sided games. So you know, in all of my workouts when I have groups like we're playing different small sided games. So okay, we're playing a one on two where the defender starts on the offensive player's hip and the offensive player goes. And now they're playing with a primary defender, then a whole defender is coming or you know, maybe we play a two on two starting off of a closeout where the ball goes across, defender is close out, offense, player has to read the closeout. Do I shoot? Do I attack? Which way do I attack? What do I do when I drive? Did the help step up? Now I got a kick, helped, didn't step up, Now I can finish. How am I supposed to finish? Where's my defender at? Notice how much goes into that? That's not. Obviously we can go two on zero and I can pass you the ball, you can drive to the basket to simulate attack and close out. But you didn't have to think about any of that stuff we just talked about all the stuff that I can't even remember what I just said because I, I feel like I went through like 20 different things that go through your mind or that happen in the context of one rep of A drill like that. Okay. And that's why playing is the number one most important area for you getting better this offseason. Because the goal is to be better at playing basketball. The goal is that when games come, you're prepared for that. So the mo. The best way to prepare for that is to play more games. And in order to be prepared for those games, we have to be constantly in that same decision making perception process that happens in those different game situations you're going to see. So like I just mentioned right there with that two on two drill or, or any drill where you have a defender, all these decisions are made. All the perception has to be there. You have to be able to see what's happening and then be able to understand the options that you have. Okay, what's the solution to this problem I'm facing? My defender's playing me here. What's the solution? So I can still put the ball in the basket or my team can still get a good look on this possession right here. Okay. Playing against real defenders is the best way to get better. It is. It's the number one way to get better. And the reason being is because a skill has three different parts to it, right? You have the perceptions we just talked about you actually being in the context of whatever the situation is. So the 2 on 2 drill will say that defender is closing out to you. How much space do you have? Do you have enough space to shoot it? Okay, which, which ways is the defender shading you? Are they shading you right? Are they shading you left? Where's the help defense playing at? Are they in the paint? Are they clinging to their guy in the corner? Is the paint open? What's going to happen when you drive? If you do drive? Okay. Also maybe you think about it, if it's like a full on four, well, if you catch the ball, do I have rebounders down there? Could we get an offensive board? If I shoot this basketball, there's all these different perceptive parts to that and all these different things you can perceive in that simple system.