How To Communicate Better In Games - Key To Being ELITE (Basketball Tips)

So I got a question from a player a couple weeks ago asking me how he can communicate better in games with his teammates. This is a super important question, and it's very, very important. If you want to be the best player that you can be, that you're a great communicator. Everybody who has aspirations to play at a higher level, whether that be college or professional basketball, you have to be able to communicate with your team that's on the court. Because if coaches go to see you play and they see that you're silent, you, you can't talk, that's a red flag for them and they're going to know that this is not a player that I can trust in game. The reason it's so important to talk is because basketball is a team sport. Obviously you have five individuals, but they all need to move in sync to be a great team. If you see my video on how to beat better teams, better players, even if you don't have the skills or the size or athleticism. One of the main reasons that that's possible, because there are teams that aren't as talented, but communicate really well, have great chemistry, and execute their game plan extremely well. These teams are very hard, and communication is a huge part of that. Now, what do I mean by communicating? Well, the first thing is you need to be able to talk on defense. Now, you probably all know this if you play basketball for any amount of time, but a lot of players don't do this, they get silent. You need to constantly be talking, whether or not it even matters what you're saying. Always be vocal on the court because it's better to say too much than to miss something. Meaning if you're talking all the time, it might feel kind of weird at first, but eventually you'll just get good at saying things very quickly and being to relay important information to your teammates right away. For example, if you rarely talk, then it's going to be harder for you to pick up on when to say something to a teammate about a scream or a back cut coming or a shot going up. But if you're constantly talking and practicing it, then when you get into games and you get into critical situations, you're already going to be talking and when you see something happening, it's just going to come out. Usually the number one issue players have with communicating is just that they don't do it enough. Talk more in games. Take every opportunity on defense that you can to say something to your teammates. Be a vocal guy out there. Coaches love players who are extremely vocal and again, even if you aren't as talented as somebody else, being vocal is going to elevate you, especially on the defensive end. And there are players that will get additional minutes in games just because of how well they communicate. Because you communicating isn't just about you playing better, but it's going to elevate all four of your teammates if you're able to do that. Coaches want guys who elevate the play of their teammates. And if you communicate effectively, you can be that guy. So what are you supposed to say in games to your teammates? Well, on defense, it's simple. You just say what's happening. If you're playing help defense, let your teammates know that you got their help. If you're behind them, yell, I've got your help, I got your help. Simple stuff like that. If you're on ball, be shouting ball. If your defense plays deny or one away, you're yelling deny. When you're in the passing lane, if the guy you're guarding is going to set a screen, you're screaming screen left or screen right to your teammate, letting them know that the screen is coming. If you got switched ball screens or off ball screens, you're yelling switch when that happens. Or you're yelling return if you guys don't switch. Simple stuff like that. I'm sure your coaches point out important things defensively for you guys when you see them happening in games. Be the guy who talks. Going back to my earlier point, that's going to help not just you, but everybody else on your team if you're the guy who's talking. So think about this for your own game, think about opportunities that you have and visualize opportunities that you have to talk and be vocal on the court, especially defensively. Think about the situation that you're in when you're playing health defense, when you're playing on ball defense, when you're switching a screen or staying with the screen or whatever the case may be, think what opportunities you're going to get to be vocal out on the court and go out there and do it. I'm telling you, this is such an important key to being a great player. And if you want to be a player who continues to rise and be amongst the best at your level, you have to be a guy who communicates. Again, basketball is a team sport. Guys who are only about themselves are not players that win and coaches want winners. Winning teams have guys who communicate because it's so simple, but yet the players who do it tend to be the most disciplined guys. And because of that. Those teams tend to execute better, so be one of those guys. The last thing I'll say is that communication is infectious. If you start to communicate effectively and consistently with your teammates, chances are they're going to start doing it as well. And again, that's going to raise not just your level of play, but everybody's level of play. And that's going to help you guys win more games. If you guys enjoyed this video, go ahead and leave a like and subscribe. I want all of you guys right now to go to my description and click the link to join our private basketball training group where I'm giving you guys free workouts, personalized coaching from me, and a lot of exclusive content that you're not going to get anywhere else. So like I said, link is in my Description below. It's 100% free and I'll see you guys in there. Like I said, if you guys enjoyed the video, go ahead and subscribe. Hit this little back button right here to make it easy. I really appreciate it, guys. And drop a comment for me. Let me know what you guys want to see next. That's it for me, guys. Peace.