How To Gain An Advantage Over 95% of Other Players

Foreign welcome to the Vision Driven Basketball Training podcast. Appreciate every single one of you guys for tuning in. Right now, all of you on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever it might be that you're listening or watching, thank you guys for tuning in. This week we're going to talk about how to gain an advantage for yourself, okay? And specifically how you can do this by controlling things that you can control. Because this is a major topic that will really help out a lot of players and it's kind of a switch that you'll have to flip for a lot of you. And then once you do, you're going to find that you're going to be able to be much more consistent in how you play, how you approach the game, and in the results that you see, all by coming from dedicating yourself to controlling the things that you have the ability to control. Okay? And the reason that I make that distinction right there is because, you know, in basketball and really in life in general, there's a lot of things that you can't control you don't have any control over. You know, basketball, as an example, is more competitive today than it has ever been, okay? And next week it's going to be even more competitive than it is this week. You know, the popularity of basketball is continuing to grow at a rapid rate and more and more players are starting to play. More and more players are starting to take it seriously from not just the United States, where I know a lot of you guys are from, where I'm from, but all around the world. You know, you have guys in the NBA now like Luka Doncic, like Giannis, guys who are megastars from outside of the United States, which never used to be the case, you know, or maybe you'd have, maybe you'd have, you know, a few guys who might have been all star caliber, but you didn't have guys who you were talking about as being potential, you know, MVP guys every year. And, and in some instances the MVP like Giannis was last year. So, and that's only going to continue to get more and more common as, as, as basketball continues to progress forward. So the competitive, the, the competition level is at an all time high and it continues to go upward. So, you know, there are, because of that factor, you know, there's a lot of things in the games itself you can't, you don't have any control over. You know, you, you, you don't control how many people out there play basketball. You don't control how many people are out there competing for the Same spot that you are. You don't control if someone's bigger than you or more athletic than you or, you know, even if you're a great shooter or a great ball handler, you don't control if somebody is a better shooter than you or a better ball handler than you. That. That's not something you have control over, and that's something you have to come to grips with. And, and, and you have to start shifting your focus away from those things, okay? Because focusing on things you can't control, it's just a waste of your time, of your energy. And that energy that, that, that thought is much better off being put in into something else. And we're gonna talk about exactly what that means today. You know, to get even more detailed, though, with that. You. You don't control how many points you score. Like, you don't control whether or not the ball goes in the basket. Like, you really don't. You might, you can work on your shooting all that you want, but as soon as the ball leaves your hands, you don't. You don't control if it goes in or not. You know, Steph Curry, the greatest shooter of all time, still misses over half of his threes, okay? And so if Steph Curry can't even, can't even control the ball going to the basket, nobody else can. So that's something that you don't even control. Right? You can control having great mechanics working a ton of your jump shots to give yourself the highest likelihood of it happening, but at the end of the day, you don't. You don't control that ball going into that basket, really, at any time. Okay? And, you know, I'm sure you guys have all experienced, you know, the feeling where you might shoot the basketball, and it just feels so perfect, like, oh, man, that's nothing but net. And, you know, goes in and out or hits the back rim. It feels like it's so perfect, and you feel like you did everything right when you shot the ball, but yet it's still missed. That lets you know you don't have, like, you don't control that whether or not the ball goes in the basket. Of course, you can become some. You can become better at something. You become better at shooting. Like I said, you can work on your mechanics. You can work on, you know, extending your range. You can work on becoming more consistent in practice. You can work on taking different shots. You can work on adding defense in to make it more difficult, and you can just get reps up, and that's going to make you Better, and that's going to increase the likelihood of you making it. But at the end of the day, if the air conditioning in the gym blows the ball 1/100th of an inch to the left when you shoot it, you might miss it. Because of that, you don't have control over that. Right? So you need to understand that's an exaggeration, but it illustrates the point that I'm trying to make. You might be, you know, an extremely strong player. You know, you're really committed in the weight room, and, you know, physically you're really, really strong, but you don't control whether or not you might face somebody who's even stronger than you are. Right? They might be even more dedicated than you, or they might just be naturally bigger. That can also be how it is. You know, like I said, with the increased level of competition, this becomes more and more evident every single day. And, you know, it's the same way in life. You can work extremely hard to get a job, and maybe you do everything right. You know, you go to a good school and you get good grades, but maybe in the day somebody went to a better school, gets the job that you wanted, right? And that's not something that you control. So there is literally that correlation in every area you can think of. And basketball, of course, is no different. And, you know, you can. Another example. You can take perfect care of your car, right? You can. You can take it to get washed and detailed every single week. You know, you can be. You can be the best car owner ever, right? You can keep it spotless, but you might be out and about and a bird might poop on your car, and there's nothing you can do to stop that, and you have absolutely no control over it, okay? So understand that this topic is massive. When you start to pour your energy into what you control, you're going to become a lot better. You're going to improve at a very, very rapid rate, because a lot of people are stuck focused on things that, you know will not help them at the end of the day, okay? And I want. I don't want you guys to be in that. In that group. I want you guys to be moving forward in the right direction. And, you know, that all being said, moving back to basketball, there are certain things that you can do that you can control, and we're going to break those down right now. And, you know, because there's so much you don't control, it's absolutely crucial that you control things that you can, okay? The few things you can control you need to control. Okay? So this is an optional. This is stuff that you have to be able to do. And a lot of it seems simple off the bat, but doing it consistently is not something that a lot of players do. Okay, I'm going to tell you exactly why that is. The first thing you control is your effort. And, you know, that's obvious. And I'm sure, you know, many of you have heard coaches tell you, like, oh, yeah, guys, like, the effort's terrible today. Like, you guys got to pick it up. You know, hopefully they haven't said it to you, but maybe they said it to one of your teammates or somebody else in the gym. You know, that that's, that's, that's the number one thing that, that you control that you need to have every single day. You know, you don't control. Like I said, you don't control if the shot goes in or not. You don't. That's not up to you. However, you do control what your reaction is when you miss. You control whether or not you're going to sprint back on defense after you miss a shot or if you're going to jog back because whatever you missed a shot, right, You. You don't control if your teammate gets beat on the perimeter by his guy, but you do control if you're in the right help position to be there to contest that, that shot when you know that player gets to the inside or even to take a charge, right? You control whether or not you are in the right position to, to help out your team. Okay, he might get beat, but if you aren't in your position, then that's your fault because you didn't do it. You didn't do it right. Your effort wasn't there. Okay? Effort is something that cannot change for you ever. The. There is a baseline that needs to be at. And that baseline is at 100% at all times. Every practice, every workout, every game. It needs to be there. It doesn't matter how terrible things might be going. There's. There can't be any questions about it. You know, you have to be giving that, that maximum of effort at all times, because like I said before, basketball is so competitive now that there's just. There's no room for people who don't do that. Okay? You know, maybe if you're ultra talented and ultra athletic and big, you might be able to get away with some, some lack of effort at times. But if you aren't, which 99.999% of you aren't, then that Effort needs to be there for every single workout, every single practice, every single game. It has to be there. And, you know, you'll. You'll commonly see this with. With veteran teams that play good defense. You know, that team might have some really, really talented offensive guys. Think of maybe a high school team that's loaded with seniors who are really good, or a college team. With these teams, you'll see a march of madness where they'll have a bunch of upperclassmen who play together for a long time, who play really well, and they'll beat some of these younger, more talented teams because of this veteran experience. And they're able to. They understand how to bring it every night. They understand how to have that effort and intensity at every point, okay? And that's why they're able to beat teams that might be a little bit better than them, right? Or bigger than them, more athletic than them, whatever the case may be. Despite that, they might. They probably have talented offensive guys regardless. Like, they. They probably are still very talented, but they understand that shots will not fall every night. No matter how good of a shooting team you are. There's gonna be nights where you're just not gonna hit shots. And at that point, you have to have a constant, and that constant can be defense, right? So if that team is committed to giving max effort on defense, even on nights where they might not be hitting a ton of shots, if they can hold the other team to not a lot of points, they're going to still be in a position to win. You know, defense never changes, right? It's the same exact thing, and it always requires that same level of effort or intensity. You might. You might have a different scheme defensively, you might be playing a different. You know, you might be playing a different type of defense, but the intensity that you guys bring really doesn't ever change, okay? So no matter how bad things might be going on offense, teams that take pride in getting maximum effort on defense, or teams that have a chance to win every night, and then when shots do fall and they still stay committed to defense, that's when you have teams that are capable of blowing other teams out, right? Because they're committed to giving that max effort. And that translates to you individually as well. If you're that guy who brings it on defense every single night, you're that guy who's sprinting the lanes every night. You're the guy who is. Who is crashing the boards, you know, making those effort plays. You know, you're the guy who decides he's never going to get beat. And of course, that translates to your workouts as well. Are you. Are you going through it at 100% every single time? And this. We'll get into it a little bit more in this next part, but, you know, that's kind of why I approach things the way I do when it comes to how long should you work out? What. What should your workout look like? You know, I really. I really want the workouts that I do that my players do to be at that maximum intensity, okay, that maximum effort, because we want to stay in that. In that, like in that baseline 100% the whole time. I don't want. I don't want it to drop below that, because if we drop below that 100% effort because we've been working out for five hours, you know, how does that translate to the game for us? Not well. So the next part, like I just said, that you control is the work that you put in. Okay? So we have effort, and number two, the work that you put in. You know, I'm kind of a mixed fan in terms of when the mantra outwork everybody. And that's for a couple of different reasons. You know, first of all, I'm not saying that this mindset is a bad thing at all. Right? You know, if your goal every workout or every practice is to work harder than everybody else, that's great. That's a great goal to have. And I'm not telling you to not do that. I think that's a good thing to do. You know, the issue is that some players take that as, I need to be in the gym working out or at the park working out for eight, ten hours a day. And that's just simply not true. And it's just. I've explained it before, but in my opinion, it's a horribly inefficient way to get better. And that's. If, you know, if that's what you mean when you. When you think of. Or when you say I outwork everybody, then I think you're viewing it the wrong way. And I think that's where it becomes kind of dangerous, because players fall into that category and then wonder why they aren't seeing the game results that they might want to. And, you know, the keys to outworking everybody else is your consistency and your focus during your workouts. Okay, when you're at the gym or. Or when you're at the park, are you there every day? Like, do you get there every day? Do you make time to do that? Or is it something that you can't Stick to. Consistently. Are you able to do that multiple times a day? Consistently? Are you able to go to the gym for an hour in the morning, get your shots up, go about your day? You know, maybe go to the weight room later, I don't know. But then later that. That evening, you go back to the gym or the park and you go through another workout. Are you. Are you able to do that consistently? Right. That's my. That's my question to you guys. Can you stick to a schedule like I just laid out? Can you stick to that morning, night schedule for a long period of time? And when you're. When you're doing that, can you keep up that high level of effort for every single one? And now. Now. Now the question becomes, can you stick to that for three months? Can you stick to it for three years? Are you willing to be able to do that? Because I'm telling you, if you want to be great at it, that's what you have to do. That's the type of intensity, the type of effort, the type of work you have to put in. And like I mentioned, what does your effort look like during those workouts? Okay? Because it's one thing to show up, but if you aren't there when you show up, then it's a waste of your time. Your effort needs to be there on every rep of every drill. And that kind of moves on to the focus part. We talk about consistency and then focus, okay? I think focus and effort kind of go hand in hand right here. Are you focused for the entire time that you're working out? Right? If you're just going through the motions and trying to get through it instead of trying to get better from it, you know, there you are. You aren't out working everybody. You're just there, right? There's people who are putting in the same amount of time as you who are getting. Who are seeing better results and outworking you because they're there. If they're focused and their effort doesn't drop below that 100%, okay? Like I said, effort needs to be there every rep of every drill of every workout. And that's why I don't subscribe to the eight hours a day method that people love to bring up. You know, you can't. You just can't stay focused for that long. So to me, I'd rather do two, one hour, highly focused, intense sessions per day. You know, no wasted time, no wasted energy, because that's proven, and that will make you better. When you attack. You know, when you. When you attack it. And you keep focused, okay? So you're doing that. You're having those detailed, focused workouts, hitting the weight room consistently, eating enough food and getting enough sleep and recovery over a long period of time. You're going to start to outwork people, okay? And you're going to really start to separate yourself from people because people just really can't keep up with that. And they might be able to do that, but they're not going to be focused every time, right? There's going to be a lot of wasted time there, a lot of wasted energy. So if you're able to keep up that focus of that schedule and you're able to keep that consistency, you know, over a long period of time, you're going to start to increase the gap between you and everybody else, okay? Because they're not putting in work like that. And you know, listen, that schedule is not easy at all. Like, that's very, it's very difficult to be consistent and focus with that schedule. That is not easy. Okay? But we talk about working other people. It, that's what it takes, right? Because 95% of other players out there, they can't, they can't stick to that, right? So if you can, if you can stick to that, you can stick to that consistently and you can, you can bring that focus and energy every time. You're already, you know, you're already out working 95% of other players, okay? So obviously, you know, like I always, I always say, I always plug. If you're unsure of what workouts to use, what I mean, when I say do this, do this, do this, of course I, you know, I have a ton on my channel, so go ahead and check that out. And if you guys haven't checked out the, you know, my free elite perimeter score workout, you can check that out as well. That'll be in, in the description of this video, if you're on YouTube and, and a podcast as well, just go ahead and score on. Check it out there if you've not. And you know, I also have the perimeter score system, which will give you a, you know, a full off season, you know, full off season workouts, full preseason workouts and in season workouts as well. And it really lays it out for you. So you know exactly what schedule to follow. You know, that's the, that's the thing. Like, you know, on my channel, I've got a lot of workouts that are, that are going to help you as well, and they're fantastic and I highly recommend that you use those. But you know the thing with the perimeter score system, that it really lays everything out for you. So when people ask me like, hey, what should my schedule look like? What should this look like? Well, the perimeter score is going to lay it out for you exactly when it comes to your workouts. Okay. And you know, I want to give a shout out to Daniel, who left a comment on YouTube. He's in the perimeter score system. One of my guys in there working, and he said, hey, coach, just wanted to say that I'm only on the fifth week of the perimeter score system and I'm already two times better than before, thank you. So shout out to Daniel. He's out here working. A ton of other guys in there who are working as well. And I'm getting those messages, those comments all the time. And so shout out to all you guys. And again, if you guys are into that, go ahead and you can send me a dm. Also, the link to it is in my description. I'll put in the description of this video as well so you can find it there if you want to check it out. But you know, those guys who are in there really are. And listen, here's the thing. I get a ton of questions from people and this is what I want to say. I always talk about the perimeter score system, right? It's not for everybody. Like, it's not in this, this podcast, this episode isn't for everybody because a lot of people just, they don't, they're not, they're not really hoopers like that. Like, they're, they're, they're, they like to play basketball, they like to watch basketball, they like to play with their friends, but they're not really hoopers like that. Like, they don't really want to put in the sort of effort it takes. And they, they don't understand that you don't. There is nothing that is guaranteed to you in basketball. Not one thing. Any trainer out there who tries to tell you about their program, that's going to make you a 20 point per game scorer, right? That's. They, they, they won't. Like, that's just not true. They can't, you can't get. Now it could happen, but it's like you can't guarantee that. Okay, now I have a. With the permanent score system comes another program with it for free that's called the 20 points per game blueprint, where I lay out for you steps that, that it will take to get to 20 points per game. But if you go through that, that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a 20 points per game score. It means you're going to be a more consistent scorer. And once you build your skills up you theoretically it's very possible for you. And there's things you're going to learn in that, that you need to have if you want to be that, that level of a score, right? But I will never be the guy who's going to tell you that you're going to become, you can score 25 points a game and you can do this and do that and do that. That's really up to you, okay? There isn't. That is guaranteed. So the guys who DM me about the perimeter score system or about whatever and they're like, hey, coach, will this make me this, Will this allow me to score 30 points per game and, and be the best player in my state and go to the NBA? I'm not, I will never guarantee that for you because I don't know you, right? I don't know what your game looks like. I don't know how big you are, how athletic you are. Listen, if you're 6, 8 and you jump 40 inches and you do the perimeter score system, it's probably pretty easy for you to score 20 points a game, right? It'd be pretty easy for you. So there's a spectrum of people, okay? And it's not just about the skill work you put in. There's a lot of other factors that go into it. The people who, like Daniel, who have gone, who are in the premier score system right now, who are working, who are seeing results, guys who I'm getting messages from all the time that are really, you know, that are really seeing great results with the training. Those are the guys who never ask me, they're never like, coach, you know, how long is it going to take for me to become the best player on my team when I start using this? Like, none of them, all of them are like, listen, nothing's guaranteed, but I'm going to stick to something and the results will come, right? They're confident in that. They didn't come in there expecting anything. They, they are very long term focused, okay? They understand that the work that they put in is going to start to compound and eventually down the line, it's all going to pay off for them. There is no short term. How long is it going to take for me to score 20 points per game? Right? That's just a bad question because there's not an answer to it. And I can't answer it for you. You can really only answer for yourself, okay? And there's no, there's no guarantees out there, so stop looking for guarantees. And that's what I'm gonna tell you. If you feel like you need to have a guarantee to try to join the premise, if you like, if you feel like if I can't tell you that, I won't guarantee you that you're gonna be, I won't guarantee you're gonna be the best scorer on your team. I won't guarantee that you're going to make your varsity team next year. I won't guarantee you're going to start next year. I won't guarantee you're going to play in college. I won't guarantee you're going to go to the NBA. I won't guarantee any of that ever to anybody unless I've seen you play. And I know that you can, right? There are some guys who I've seen play and I know they can do it, so I'll tell them that, right? But for those of you who I haven't seen play or who maybe I have seen play, and I don't think can do that, I'm not going to tell you that, right? If you feel like you still need that, then the permanent source system is just not for you. Like you're not going to be successful with it. And to be honest, I'd rather work with guys who are, who don't need that, who are very much driven by their love for the work, right? Because typically the people who want shortcuts, they don't actually love the work. And if you don't love doing the work every single day consistently with focus, you won't be successful. And that's, that's, that's, that's the reality of it. And so again, that's why I tell you the guys who are successful with the permanent sports system are the guys who just love doing the work. They love, they love getting out to the park or to the gym and putting in the work every single day. Like they enjoy doing that. They enjoy the process of getting better. And because they enjoy that process, they don't, they don't need short term results, right? They care about the long term. And so they don't need to ask me, coach, is this going to make me. This, this, this, how long is it going to take for this, this, this, this, this? Okay? They just, they get out and they do it, right? If you don't love the work, then you aren't going to be successful. And that's with anything. This this is beyond the perimeter score system. Any training you do, if you don't love doing the work, then to be honest, you're not going to be. You're not going to get to the level you want to get to, right? The people who get to those highest levels love doing the work. They love how difficult it is. They understand there's nothing guaranteed, there's no promises that can be made to them. They might put in all the work in the world and they still might never make a dollar off basketball, they still might never play college basketball, but they love putting in the work. And that's what it's about. So that's what you need to ask yourself when you talk about outworking people. Do you love putting in the work or do you just do it because, you know, whatever, right? Is it a short term thing? Are you always looking for shortcuts when it comes to getting better? Because if you are, red flag. Ask yourself, do I really care about this? Okay? Do I really care about putting in the work? Because the work is above everything else. The effort that you put in, the consistency that you do it with, that's what it's all about. So that's really what it takes. And compounded over months and years, that's where it becomes very noticeable, the work that you put in. I'll have players ask me also about my ball handling work, any work on YouTube and they'll say, hey, coach, how long until I become great at ball handling when I do this? Like, give yourself three months, give yourself six months. Coach, how long is it going to take for me to become a great scorer? Give yourself two, three, four years of consistent work, right? Especially if you're younger and you haven't scored before. Like if you, if you DM me and you say, hey, coach, I scored five points per game next year, how much? How, how, how would I score 20 next year? Like, what workout should I do so I can score 20 again next year? Listen, unless you're dropping down a level or unless you again, unless you grew a foot and you became way more athletic, you probably aren't going to go from 5 a game to 20 a game. Okay? Now am I saying it's not possible? No, it's possible, right? Maybe, maybe. You know, the year before you were, you had a lot of competition above you and a lot of good players above you, so you didn't get to play as much. And maybe next year your minutes went way up and you scored 20 a game. Cool. For a lot of you though, that's just not the case. Okay? So understand that it's a step by step thing, okay? Our goal is long term. Our goal is long term. Become the best we can possibly be. And that all starts with being dedicated to doing the work because it's going to pay off long term. And I've done an episode on that before. The work that you put in, there is no such thing as wasted work, okay? That when you put it in consistently and focus as well, and it's going to pay off for you down the line. So, you know, and just to pivot real quick, because, you know, I get this question a lot, you know, players ask me, you know, what should you do when you don't feel like working out? And really, there's two parts to this. And, you know, first of all, I'll say if this happened to you and it's over a long period of time, so like, you know, every single day you've been working consistently and then all of a sudden you just like, don't feel like doing it anymore. You're just like, man, I don't want to go to the gym ever again. I don't want to go to the weight room ever again. I hate this. Now that could be you just being burnt out because you're doing it so much. And I actually put out, I talked about on last week's podcast and I put out a video on it. So check out my YouTube channel for that video on what you should do if you feel burnt out. And that'll help you out a lot. But, you know, I'll let you guys go check that out if that's you. But there's also the people who are short term. Like, there are going to be days that you're going to get up, right, and you're not gonna feel like going to the gym, right? Those isolated days where you just don't feel like doing it, you don't feel like going to the weight room, you don't feel like, you know, getting outside and doing whatever. You know, my answer to that, how to fix that is you've got to get moving, right? It's all about momentum. Momentum is, is the biggest key when it comes to this, to being consistent in anything and anything you don't feel like doing, getting some momentum, moving forward and is what it's all about. And, you know, have you ever noticed that there'll be days where maybe you didn't get enough sleep and, you know, you have to wake up early the next day and you get up and you're going off 34 hours of sleep and, you know, you just feel terrible and you just want to die because you just want to go back to sleep, right? 6am and you got to be somewhere. But, you know, then you get up, you get going, you, you know, maybe get some breakfast, drink some water, get out the door, get to wherever you're going to get to. And all of a sudden you, you, you feel pretty normal. Like you feel fine, right? Like you don't feel that tired anymore. You kind of. Your energy's picked up as you start to, you know, eat your breakfast, drink your water, get walking a little bit, you start to be like, okay, I'm all right. Like, I'm good now. That's, that's, that's momentum right there. That's what I'm talking about. You just would have stayed in your bed. That momentum never comes. You're just going to keep on sleeping, right? You probably could sleep for eight more hours at that point, okay? So that's how momentum works. As you start to go, it's a snowball and it starts to pick up, pick up and pick up and keep on going. And if you don't feel like doing something, the best thing you can do is get up and just make, Take one step in that direction, okay? If you're supposed to go to the park to work out, but you can't seem to get the motivation to do it, get up, grab some basketball shorts and your socks and put them on, right? Put your shoes on. Just take that first step towards doing that thing, okay? And then maybe after that, you go make yourself a sandwich, right? You eat that sandwich, all of a sudden, your mind, like, your entire outlook, your entire mindset might be completely different after you eat that sandwich, right? You might be sitting on the couch being like, I don't feel like working out. This is terrible. And I want to do it. By the time you get up, put your shorts on, put your socks on, your shoes, you go over, eat a sandwich, drink some water, drink some milk, whatever. You might feel completely different. You might feel way more energetic after you eat that sandwich. You might be completely ready to go to the gym at that point, okay? You've already taken that, those steps to get the momentum to go forward, okay? So the rule is, if you can take one step in that direction, you're going to start to find it easier and easier and easier and easier to do that thing, okay? So if you don't feel like doing something, do something that's going to move you that direction, okay? The other thing to recognize is that, you know, our bodies need, need and love exercise, and you release chemicals that make you feel good when you exercise. And, you know, many times I notice that when I don't feel like going to the gym or the weight room and I do it anyway, I. That post workout feeling is, you know, it is. It's incredible, right? And it's even better than those post workouts when I did feel like going, when I was super motivated. Because you overcame that additional adversity. And proving to yourself that you can overcome that adversity is. And get it done is so good for you mentally and physically as well. And, you know, your body's meant to move. Once you get it moving, you're going to start to feel a lot better, okay? So a lot of times when you're done working out, you're going to be so glad that you did it because you're going to feel way better than you did before. Chances are, if you're sitting on the couch, not wanting to do, not wanting to go work out, you probably aren't feeling that great at that point, okay? You're just like, you're kind of in a baseline mode, just being lazy. And it might seem cool at that point, but really, you're going to regret it if you don't do it. Okay? So save yourself that. Go take that first step, momentum in that direction. And then once you do that thing, you're gonna feel so good about it, okay? It also can help you to switch up your music or even listen to something other than music when you go work out. You know, maybe you listen to this podcast, right? Then somebody go work out, you don't feel like doing it. I know I've had people tell me that they listen to my podcast when they work out. Maybe you listen to a TED Talk or an interview or an audiobook or another podcast, whatever it might be, okay? Or you just switch up the music you listen to. Maybe it's a new playlist, a new artist, or a new genre, whatever it might be. And that can completely change the way that your mind views the situation. And those are just a few ways that I personally deal with that. But if you also have certain ways that you overcome those things, then, you know, when you don't feel like it, drop it in the comments and, you know, help everyone else out. Because I think, I think whatever methods you have personally can definitely help other people as well. And, you know, back to the list, though, the third thing you control is your knowledge of your team's offense and defense. And you Know, there are so many things to worry about throughout the context of a game. Like you're worried about, you know, protecting the ball, making shots, guarding your man, you know, running the, running the lanes, attacking the basket, you know, making sure you're attacking the right times and making the right reads, the right decisions. All these things that you have to be able to do, right? The last thing you want to have to worry about is constantly thinking about what you're supposed to be running, not knowing what you're supposed to be running on offense or defense, not knowing how your coach wants you to play defense, not knowing, you know, what, what each position does during games. So if you get put in a spot where you aren't normally, you got to know what that spot does too, because you don't want to be put. You don't want to have to have that extra focus on something that is going to kind of detract from your ability to focus on just giving effort, right? And just doing, doing the things that you do. There are so many other things you can't control. So when you don't have this under control, it's going to make your entire game worse. And, you know, if you don't know the plays very well, it's going to add unnecessary stress to you. And this is the question or this is something that I, I always ask players and they say, hey, coach, you know, I feel like, overwhelmed when I'm on the floor and all these things. I'm like, how well do you know the plays? Like, do you know them better than everybody else? That's the thing. Your, your goal should be that you know the plays better than anybody else in your team. Okay? What I recommend you guys do is, you know, at, you know, first week of trials or practice, when you guys get the playbook or maybe you don't get a playbook. I know a lot of teams don't actually get, like, a physical playbook, but once you get, you know, once you guys go through the plays and practice, as soon as practice is over, take out a piece of paper and write out each play until you know it perfectly, okay? Write out each play and go through each step of it. See? See yourself in each position doing those things. Get all of them down, right? And go through those as often as you need to until anytime someone, you know, your coach or anybody could call it a play, you immediately know what you're supposed to be doing, okay? Be willing to put in that effort. That effort's going to pay off for you long term. When you're in a game and you don't have to really think about what you're doing because it's just ingrained in your mind, you know, it already. Okay. That's super important and a major key that players a lot of times don't really, don't really focus on. And the fourth point, the final point I want to make about things you control, that you need to have, that you need to control is your conditioning. Okay, we talked about conditioning a little bit last week when it comes to actually, remember the week before where we talked about what should you like, how to get conditioned for, you know, during the off season essentially, and kind of leading up to the, to the preseason and in season. And I put out a conditioning workout last week, so if you guys want to check that out on my YouTube channel, go ahead. But, you know, it's super important that you consider your conditioning as you're approaching your season, whether that be school basketball, obviously AU basketball as well. Super important to be in shape. And when you're tired, it's hard for you to compete at your highest level. It's hard for you to be at your best form when you're tired. And you know, especially again, when you're playing as guys who might be really talented, you want to have every advantage that you can. And conditioning is one of those things where it's very different from any other thing in basketball in terms of physical skills or physical abilities. Right. Just because you shoot a ton of shots is not going to mean you're going to be a great shooter. You can shoot thousands of shots, but maybe your form isn't very good, so you're just not going to be a great shooter. Right? You can be. Shooting is a skill that I think takes years, years before you can really be great at it, before you can be elite at it. Okay. So you need, if you need years to develop your shooting to an elite level. Conditioning is not like that, though. You can become really, really well conditioned if you commit to it for like a month. Right. You know, if you want to get into elite condition, probably more than a month, but you can get in really, really, really good shape. Probably better than most other people in like a month of focusing on it. Okay. And I always talk about this, but, you know, my, my personal favorite way to, to do conditioning is just to play more pickup, play more five on five, where you're playing full court running, not taking a ton of breaks. That's the best way, in my opinion, to do that. If you can get a group of, of, you know, Nine other guys. And you can just run, right, and just go for an hour and a half, two hours, where you guys are just playing pickup. That, to me is the best way to get to develop your conditioning because it's the most practical, right? You're playing the game of basketball and you're getting into, I mean, no better way to get into basketball shape than by playing basketball, okay? Obviously there's sprints and stuff you can do, which is in that workout I dropped last week, which will help you as well. But between those two things, that's really what I'm talking about. So, you know, if you're able to be in shape, you're able to not only be in shape, conditioning is something where if you're the weight room, right, and you get super strong, like I said before, there's probably gonna be someone out there who's stronger than you, okay? And then at that point they might be able to impose their will on you, right? You. That really comes down to a lot of times, genetics. Sometimes people might just naturally be bigger. They might naturally react better to their weight training, whatever it might be. They might just be built differently than you. But conditioning wise, it's really more a much more even playing field, okay? You can be the best conditioned player on the floor, really, if you, if you really commit to it, you could be the best conditioned player on the floor every game of a season. You very well could be. You might not be the most athletic, might not be the biggest, might not be the fastest, might not be the best shooter, best ball handler. You can be the best conditioned if you really commit to doing it, okay? And that combined with all the other things is going to give you an advantage over people who, when they get to the fourth quarter and they're all playing at 75% because they're tired. You can be playing at 90% because you've put in that work conditioning wise to get yourself to a level where you can continue to go after you've been going for a while, okay? So that's going to help you to elevate your skill set. It's going to help you to play better and it's going to give you confidence as well that you can compete with anybody because you can keep going even when they've kind of slowed down or tapped out. So, you know, those, those four things right there, your effort, the work you put in and knowing the plays, knowing your defense and conditioning, those are four things you have complete control over that you need to have down. You need to control, okay, you have the ability to control them, but you need to make sure that you commit to actually controlling them. Okay? I can sit in here and tell you these things. If you commit to doing them, you're going to become much, much better and you're going to be much, much more confident in your own game. Okay? And it's really going to help you to develop your skills at a faster rate. Highly recommend you guys take time to focus on these things. And of course, that's where you're going to start to see that progress from. So, real quick, I wanted to answer a question that I got from Sam and, you know, shout out to Sam. He was asking me, he said, you know, I made my own basketball workouts. You know, don't worry, I still do some of your workouts. And sometimes I think to myself, is it better to do the same workout every day, do a split, or do completely different workouts every day for basketball? That is my question. Because Monday I want to go to the courts. We're known for workouts. And I know which workouts are which days. And can you also do a video on the perfect basketball schedule, like what you do in the mornings, evenings and nights, when to eat, when to work out, and when to wake up. Thanks. So my response, first of all, there is no perfect schedule, right? I'm not going to tell you guys. You have to wake up at 6, you have to work out at 7, and you have to come home at 8:30, and you have to eat breakfast and you have to do this. You have to stretch at 10, you have to go back to the gym at 1 and stay there till 3, and you have to come home at 4 and go to the weight room at 4. Like, that's, I'm not, like, it's not really my place to tell you guys when to do what. Okay, there's. There's no set time to do things really. It's about you determining for your skill for yourself, for your schedule. There's things you probably have to do every day. Maybe you have to work, maybe you have to do whatever. Obviously, when school starts, you have to do that. And so you have to consider that for yourself. It's not just about what the best schedule is. About what, what's the best schedule for you? What are you going to be able to stick to? Okay, so when I wake up, when I eat, when I go to the gym might not be ideal for you. You have to determine that for yourself. The only, the important thing is that you get it in. You get it in and I also think it's important that you can sit, you can have some sort of consistent schedule. I think it makes things a lot easier for you. You don't have to, but end of the day, as long as you get it in, that's the important part. Okay, so figure out what you're going to do with your basket workouts and when you're going to lift, when you're going to go play pickup or play one on one, all those things. Map that out so that you know it and in terms of the amount of workouts you should have. So I'll give you an example. In the perimeter score system, we have four workouts per week that we rotate through and then we have a fifth shooting workout on each week as well. So we rotate through those workouts and we switch out those workouts every four weeks in the off season. Okay, so first four weeks we're gonna have four roads, four, four different workouts we're gonna rotate through. And that shooting workout. Then the fifth week through the eighth week, it's gonna be four new workouts that we rotate through within with the shooting workout and then obviously 9 to 12 we're gonna switch up again. And it's very similar with that. I think the preseason is three weeks, or it might still be four weeks too. But essentially we're going to stick with about four workouts and we're going to rotate through them. Okay. That way we're going to be able to hit them enough and hit those same skills, right, those overlapping skills, so we can see improvement. But at the same time we're able to branch out a little bit on what we're doing. And that's what I would Recommend have between 2 to 4 workouts, maybe 2 to 5 workouts, whatever that you can rotate through that are going to be able to hit similar skills, but, but maybe in a different way. Maybe, you know, one workout is more focused on a certain sort of, you know, move. Maybe it's jab focused or really focused on, you know, an in and out or really focused on a punch drip or whatever it might be that can be one of your workouts. And that's plenty of our workouts in the permanent score system are focused on kind of one thing. And then we build off of that. We're building, we're building different, we build a different series off of that and you know, different, different game situations out of those things. And obviously we do have our kind of more all around workouts where you're going to hit ball, handling, shooting, finishing that's kind of up to you in terms of what you want to do with that. But that would, that's my recommendation for you guys is have, you know, two, three, four, five workouts that you rotate through. And again that way you'll be able to still hit things consistently multiple times, but also get a little bit of variety in what you're doing. Okay? So you can really work on those, all those skills you're going to need when you're in a game. So good question. A question I definitely get a ton, so hope that answered it for you guys. Like I always say, if you have questions for me, DM me on Instagram at Vision Driven Basketball. That's the best way to reach me. And you know, again, I try my best to keep up with comments on YouTube but it's harder to do that. So just send me a dm. And again, a lot of, a lot of topics that I'll that I make my podcast on come from questions I get. Okay, so very important you guys do that. You have any questions for me and if you don't have any questions for me, give me a follow. Anyway, Vision Driven Basketball, that's how you know when I'm gonna go live for my workouts. You guys can follow along with any posts I have. So just really good for you to keep up with that and so give me a follow. And again, I really appreciate you guys tuning in. If you're an Apple podcast or really would appreciate if you guys would scroll down to the bottom of the page and leave a five star review, that would be awesome. And that's it for today. YouTube like and subscribe. I'll see you guys soon. Peace.