How to Catch Up to Better Players (Even If You Started Late)

Do you feel like you're behind? Like every player around you has had a head start and you're just scratching and clawing, trying to keep up? The players around you are more athletic, maybe they're more skilled, they have more experience, they carry themselves different than you do. And it leaves you wondering if you can ever close that gap. In this video, I want to tell you exactly what you can do to close that gap. And in a lot of cases, maybe even be able to overtake some of these players. So if you feel behind, this video is going to help you to catch up probably faster than you even think. The first thing that's important to do is that you need to reframe how you think about this whole thing. So many players look around and they see competition a lot of times that takes up a lot of focus because they're worried about that player does this better than me. That player is going to get that opportunity instead of me. They're so focused on what everybody else is doing. I just saw a video the other day that talked about this, and it was in more of a business sense, but it applies to basketball as well. The idea of competition isn't as real as you think it is because we look around and everybody broadcast on social media and even in person, they broadcast what they want you to see, and they hide the things that they don't want you to see. So when we look at, let's take 100 basketball players, most players look at that and think, that's my competition. In reality, you might not even be playing the same game as them. What I mean by that is that of those hundred players, probably 40 or 50 of them aren't really even in the game because they're not consistently working out. They're not doing the right things, they're not focused, they don't have any sort of plan or any sort of consistency. So in reality, they're just kind of there. But they're not actually playing the game of getting better. So in a lot of ways, that's not competition. So those are players that you're going to be able to pass up if you do the right things consistently. Of those remaining 50 players, probably about 40 of them are in the game, but they don't have any sort of plan. They're just kind of jumping from workout to workout, drill to drill. They're hoping that they're making progress, and there's not really anything that's a roadmap or a guide for them. So those are also players who aren't playing the Same game as you. If you're consistent, you show up every single day and you have a plan that you follow. And now we've got that last group of 10. And of those 10, five of those players are going to quit or stop putting in as much because it's hard, because it's. They're not seeing success immediately. So five of those 10 players are going to drop out. And, and that leaves you in a group of five. And that's your actual competition. When we talk about players who are actually consistent and doing the right things with the plan. So you first want to reframe the way that you look at things. If you're doing the right things, your competition actually shrinks a ton. Because most people out there, most players out there aren't doing the right things. So starting late or feeling like you're behind everybody else can feel like a death sentence. But in reality, if you do the right things, you it gives you a massive leg up over other players who are not. Now we look at what actually creates that gap of a player being super far ahead. What goes into that? Well, the first thing is how focused and structured your training is. The second thing is your basketball IQ and your understanding of the game. And the third thing is your confidence, your resiliency and your self belief. It's not just talent. It's about locking into those three categories and doing the necessary steps with those three things to make a massive transformation. Now, the first thing that's really important for you to do is that you need to identify who you are as a player. So assess yourself and where you're at. What are the one or two things that you do best? Like what, what naturally do you gravitate towards? Maybe naturally you can shoot threes and you know, that's what you gravitate towards. Or maybe you're a ball handler, or maybe you're a really good defender, maybe you're a really good rebounder. Whatever those areas are that you kind of are already naturally have a feel for. You need to identify that and make a decision to go all in on becoming the best at that one or two things. And when I say the best I mean like that has to become your mindset, is that you're going to go all in on becoming elite in those categories. So that when you're on a team and a coach looks at you, he can say, okay, I know that they can contribute there. I know that's what they bring to the team right there. Because what you don't want to do is be a Jack of all trades and not be very good at anything and therefore there's not really any use for you. This is a big mistake a lot of players make. They want to bridge that gap. They think, okay, well, I got to get better at shooting off the dribble, off the catch, threes mid range. I got to get better at ball handling, handling pressure, you know, creating an isolation. I got to get better at finishing and I got to have all these different crazy finishing moves in the bag and I got to get really good in transition and I got to get really good. They think that they have to be great at everything and obviously we want to work towards that. But in the immediate future, you have to identify the the one or two things you already kind of do well or the things that you do best and focus on becoming the best at them. Now, here's my suggestion when doing that, there is such an overwhelm of information out there. Obviously you know that you turn on social media, whether it be a YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and there's a million different coaches, trainers telling you a million different things. A big mistake players make is consuming all of it. They listen to everybody and in a lot of ways it's meant well. You know, you probably love the game of basketball, so you want to learn as much about it as you can and that's great. But again, there becomes a point where you almost suffer from paralysis by analysis because there's so many different people out there telling you so many different things. You're trying to figure out, what exactly should I do? This person says that, that person says this. So my suggestion is that when you identify these one or two things that you want to be great at, you want to pick one or two coaches that talk about those things or do workouts on those things, and you want to exclusively listen to them. When you do this is going to allow you to become way more consistent and way more focused. You're not going to be feeling you're hold in a bunch of different directions. You're going to start something for a week and flip flop and go do something else for another week and then change when you see something new. No. Pick one or two coaches that you trust, that you really respect, that you think you know will help you get good results that you can buy into and stick with them and focus on them. They have shooting workouts, they have ball handling workouts. Whatever the skill is, you're trying to get better at one or two coaches, and those are the people that you listen to and you Cut out everything else. Now maybe that means your two best skills are three point shooting and ball handling. And maybe you listen to one coach about one of those things, another coach about the other, because maybe one of them is stronger in the, in one or the other, that's great as well. But what I'm saying essentially is cut out all of the overwhelm and all the stuff that's actually holding you back, which is the, the influx of information that you have access to. Cut out all of that and really lock into one or two coaches who are going to help progress you along. And just to reiterate it, make sure that in your workouts, the skill, those skills that we've identified, they're the focal point of it. So that a coach can look at you and, and say, okay, that person right there, they can contribute this, they can contribute three point shooting, they can contribute ball handle, they can contribute whatever. Now, going back into cutting through the overwhelm and the uphill battle that it feels like when you're trying to, you know, narrow that gap and catch up to players who feel who you feel like are ahead of you, it's super important that we focus on these three things. Number one is basketball IQ and understanding. And this is equally, if not more important than any physical skill that you might have. A lot of times players who feel like they're so far behind actually feel that way because they don't have a high enough basketball iq. They don't really understand the game that well, so they don't know what they're doing when they're on the court, they're unsure of themselves, they're constantly second guessing, and they don't play with a high level of confidence. And just an increase, even a small increase in your understanding of the game is going to make a massive impact on you. So developing your understanding of the different actions and concepts that go into the game, understanding what are the advantages that we want to hunt, how do we create advantages consistently? When do I shoot, when do I drive, when do I pass? All that stuff is super important. I have a free basketball IQ masterclass linked down below that dives into these topics in depth. It's an hour long, completely free, and the stuff I just mentioned right there, we talk about it. So if you want a place to get started with that, it's going to completely transform things for you. The second area that's so important for you to focus on is role based skill development. So all I mean by this is that you have to ask yourself, what can I contribute to a team, how can I contribute that at a high level and then go all in on that? So this is kind of going back to what I was mentioning right there. But a lot of players think that I've got to be this, I've got to be able to shoot like that, I've got to be able to do this. And they want to do 4, 5, 10 different things, when in reality, if they got really, really good at one or two things, they're going to be able to contribute and that's going to be way a way better use of their time than trying to be something that they're not. So again, identify those one or two areas that you naturally are inclined towards. Spend all of your time and focus on getting elite at those things and avoid the other distractions. I saw a funny clip of Mitchell Robinson in the offseason, like hitting step back threes and you know, then the comparison of him in the playoffs right now shooting 29% from the free throw line. That's what I mean. The areas that you actually are going to be needed, which for him is hitting free throws, he can't do it right now. Does that mean that maybe the focus in the offseason needs to be more on that and less on other things that aren't going to be asked of you? The third thing that is so important for you to do if you want to bridge that gap and you want to catch up to the players who are ahead of you, is you need to find a way to overcome resistance. Now resistance is a feeling that everybody on earth feels. And as a basketball player, usually you'll see it in terms of, you know, you should get up and go to the gym, go to the court, whatever. But that voice in your head is saying, it doesn't matter. You're going to be worse than them anyway. You're never going to be able to complete to compete with them. You're never going to be able to make it to the place you want to make it to. You're not going to make that team, you're not going to earn that spot, you're not going to get that opportunity. And all these things that are essentially trying to keep you stuck in the same spot, it presents itself as negativity and usually has a bunch of reasons as to why you should not do something. Like I mentioned earlier with that hundred players example, players will quit because of resistance, because of that voice in their head telling them it's not worth doing it. You know, you may as well skip the gym today because what's the point? You just did it yesterday. It's fine. Even if you do it again today, that guy's still going to be a better shooter than you. That voice of resistance will never leave. You're always going to hear. It doesn't matter how great you become. Maybe once you achieve one goal, you set your sights on a new one, you're going to feel that same resistance popping up again for that one now. So it doesn't matter how great you become. Your ability to learn how to overcome resistance and in the face of it, say, hey, I'm going to go do that thing anyway, is a crucial skill for you to learn and for you to develop if you want to not only bridge that gap, but achieve any goal that you have for yourself. So we can simplify it just like this. Show up every single day. No matter how you feel, no matter what that voice is saying in your head, show up and do it again. A lot of times you're going to go and wake up and that voice is going to be telling you, you know, today's be terrible. It's gonna. Even if I go, it's gonna be a bad workout. What I experienced is that whenever I would feel that and I would go and do it anyway, a lot of times those would become the best workouts. Like, I would feel great afterwards. I'd actually go there and I'd enjoy myself and I would do well, and I'd be so glad that I went. And it's because I overcame that resistance. And I truly believe that you get rewarded for that in the form of those things. So here's the three actionable things that you should be doing if you want to make this happen. Number one, going back to basketball IQ and increasing your understanding of the game. Study the game for 10 minutes every single day. This could be as simple as picking a player that plays similarly to you, plays the same position as you, and go and watch their. Their clips on YouTube. You can go and find. If you play similar to somebody like Jalen BRUNSON, get on YouTube and look up Jalen Brunson game highlights and just go through and watch these clips and really try and pick up our details every time you watch for that 10 minutes, but you can do it for more if you want, but at least 10 minutes. Find one thing that you can take away that will impact you. So learn one thing. You can say, hey, I could do that, and that would help me in my game. So, hey, in that situation, he did that. Now I can do that. You know, he made that decision right there. Why they do that, how can I make that a part of what I do now as well? That's a really important way and a really valuable way that you can become a way better player without even touching a ball is just by increasing your mental and increasing your understanding of the game. And, and you learn so much observationally by doing that. So do that every single day. And like I said, all these players out there who are your competition are doing a bunch of stuff. Very few players are doing that consistently. They're not learning the game, they're not increasing their understanding. And when you make even a small increase in your IQ or how you, you know, your understanding of the game, the exponential results that you're going to see on the court are insane. So make this a big priority for yourself. Like I said, make it as simple as studying somebody who is similar to you in terms of way they play or the skills that they have, and you're going to get a lot better because of that. The second thing you need to do is, again, once you have those, that main focus or two, work out for an hour a day, four to five times a week, focused on developing those things. Like I said, go find a coach or a trainer online who, one or two of them, and follow their stuff. Follow what they say about developing that skill, whatever area you're trying to improve, and don't get weighed down by all the millions of options that are out there. Figure out what it is that you want to get better at, listen to a person or two people at most about it, and then four to five times a day, work out on that exact area. Get a plan. So this week, this is what I'm going to do for this, and stick to that. And the third thing is, is you have to just show up every single day. No matter how you feel. If you have a plan that you're going to do something, it's not an option. You got to go and do it. This is the biggest differentiator because while those players who are ahead of you, it might seem like they're so far off, more than likely there are things that they're not doing more than likely. At least the first thing that I talked about already in terms of studying film, they're probably not doing that. So you have a chance to close that gap by doing that. Number two, how focused are they on, you know, having specific things that they're working out and, and, and prioritizing, or are they just kind of doing whatever like what I talked about, jumping from workout to workout, trainer to trainer, not really developing themselves and moving in any direction. A lot of players are in that category as well. And then the third thing, can you show up when it's hard, when you don't feel like it, when that voice in your head is giving you every single reason to not do it, you feel that resistance. If you can also do that, these are three things that the top 1% of players are doing. And if you do it consistently, you're going to move yourself closer to that category as well. Okay? And it seems very simple, but like I said, everybody out there promotes what they want you to see, and they're not actually showing you what the truth is, which is that most people aren't doing this consistently. And if you commit to doing it, you're going to really start to close the gap and you're going to pass a lot of people that maybe you thought you never would. So, like I said, when you're behind and you feel like people are so far ahead of you, you feel like you've started too late and you want to close that gap, but you're overwhelmed because there's so much information out there, you don't know what to do. If you can just focus on those three things, it's going to push you right in that direction. And I have one more thing that's going to really help you to get better. I have a free ebook. It's called how to Get Better at Basketball Twice As Fast as Everybody Else. And inside this ebook, we walk through, step by step, what you should be doing to get better at a rate that most players will never experience. There's a lot of untapped things that you probably aren't doing or thinking about that most players aren't. And if you do these things, you're going to get better so much faster and be able to close that gap at a rate that you probably didn't think was possible. So that's linked down in the description below, completely free. Make sure you check that out as well. I appreciate you for watching. Talk soon. Peace.