The 4 Steps You NEED To Take To Get Better At Basketball

If there was only one video that you could watch to get better at basketball, this is the one. So many players are confused on how to get better. There's so many videos out there. There's so many different people saying different things. So it can be hard to know exactly what you need to do to get better and to reach your goals. So I decided to make this video to solve that problem. So whether you're new to basketball or maybe you've been doing this, my goal is to help you finally understand what it's going to take to go from where you are right now to the place that you want to be at. And make sure you stick around till the end, because I'm going to give you a free program that you can use, is going to help you take your abilities to that next level. More on that later. Let's get into it. So the first thing we're going to do is a little bit unorthodox, but stick with me right here. This is called a SWOT analysis S W O T. And basically what this is is it's something that businesses use to improve their companies to basically take a look at, okay, what are we doing that's good, that's bad? What opportunities do we have? What is potentially going to ruin our opportunities? And they use that to be able to improve what they're doing. We can do the same exact thing when it comes to where you are as a basketball player. And this is something that players don't really do. They don't really take into account what they're good at, what they're bad at, and then what kind of opportunities they have and how to take advantage of those things. What's important right here that we actually list those things out. So I'm going to put an example of this up on the screen next to me as you kind of see what I'm talking about. But the first category, the S in SWAT, stands for strength. So what is it that you do well? What is it that you feel comfortable doing, feel confident doing? And then weaknesses. So what do you not do well? Or what is it that you don't feel confident doing? And then the O stands for opportunity. So what are the opportunities that you have coming your way? What are some things that you might have right now in terms of the present moment, but also in the future? What are opportunities that you want to have for yourself? And then threats. What are some things that are potential threats to you being able to capitalize on those opportunities that you might have? So I have just an example and you'll see it up on the screen here. But just an example of a SWOT analysis. And so for strengths, we have catch and shoot, three pointers, mid range, pull ups, perimeter defense. Those are all things I feel really confident doing. And maybe my weaknesses are, okay, threes off the dribble. I'm not as good at those. Ball handling, finishing, driving to the basket, those things that I don't feel super confident doing. Opportunities. So maybe in the present an opportunity for me would be like a starting spot on my team. Like, I think this year that's an opportunity that I could maybe take advantage of, right? I might have to work for it, whatever, but like that's an opportunity that I see in my, my immediate future or in the present moment. And then maybe in the present moment also, like, I'm thinking about an AAU team that I want to try out for something along those lines right there. So I'm thinking about the opportunities that I have coming up and then in terms of the future, now I can look at, okay, making a college team, right? That might be my, that might be my, my goal. I want to get recruited, right? So I'm a college player. I want to get a pro contract. Like that's my goal. So I can kind of break these things down and look at what, what I have going on for me right now and what I could have coming up for me in the future. Threats. So what could potentially hold me back from being able to successfully capitalize on those opportunities that I listed out. So maybe it could be my lack of ball handling ability. If I can't handle the ball, maybe that prevents me from being able to get a starting spot or making the AAU team or, you know, making it to the next level. And you know, then maybe confidence, maybe I lack confidence in some of my abilities, right? So that's something that I need to be able to fix right there. And then maybe the ability to get to the basket and finish. You know, maybe right now I'm really a one dimensional player. Like I can catch and shoot, but that's about it. And so I understand, like, hey, that ability to only do one thing might be something that could limit me in the future, okay. Or even in my present opportunities right there. So we can evaluate those sorts of things. What this is going to do is it's going to give you a true assessment of not only where you're at, but what you need to do to actually get where you want to go to, right? If you know that your opportunities are this, but there Are these threats that you've got to deal with now? You know, like, hey, I got to make sure I deal with these threats right here. I got to make sure I take care of those so that I can reach the goals that I have set for myself. Okay? This is a crucial first step, and it's something that I think players should do not just one time, but at least one time per year, sometime in the offseason. Just take an analysis of where you're at. If you've never done this before, I highly recommend that you do this. It's simple as opening up a note in your phone and. And just write, you know, writing out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and then getting a very clear idea of what you are, of what opportunities you have and what you need to make sure you deal with in order to take advantage of those opportunities right there. So, number one, go through that analysis and figure out what you are, where you're going, how to maximize where you're going. The second thing that's really important for players to understand when it comes to getting better at basketball is you need to stop caring about performance and prioritize learning. Okay? And here's the thing. Whatever you are right now, however good you are, basketball, that. That is what it is. You. You kind of are what you are. In this very moment, you are what you are. And so our goal is to become more than that, right? We want to take what you are and expand that. So let's. Let's. Let's use a little bit of an analogy to show you what I mean by this. Let's say that we picture your overall ability as the size of, like, a fish tank, okay? And let's say, you know, right now you got a pretty small fish tank. Like, you can maybe fit a goldfish in there. So it's a pretty average size fish tank. The majority of people in the world who have fish, at least in America, the majority of people who have fish probably have a goldfish or something along, you know, a beta fish or something. They got something along those lines, right? So we're just gonna imagine we have an average size fish tank, and we've got a goldfish in there, okay? And the goldfish represents your best or your. Your. Your performances, right? So goldfish, pretty average. Beta fish, pretty average. You give any average fish, that's what you have in your tank. So the majority of your performance is a pretty average. You're pretty average player, okay? So that's what you are. And, you know, maybe you have a couple of games that are really good. But the majority of the time, you also might have some games that are really bad, but the majority of your games are going to be pretty much on par with everybody else. And let's say that you don't want that, though. You don't want to just, you know, have a goldfish. You want to have a way bigger fish, right? Your goal, like, you want to have a shark, that's, that's what you want. You want a shark for your fish tank, you want. And we're going to view that shark as like, great performances. So 20 points per game, 10 assists per game, all these different crazy plays that you're making, lockdown defense, you're winning a bunch of different, like, you want those things, right? That's what our shark is here. But with the current fish tank that you have that fits a goldfish, you can't fit. You can't fit a shark in that tank. So before you can actually get that shark, you've got to focus on getting a bigger fish tank in order to fit that actual shark right there. So what that means is, like, in order to be able to have those incredible performances and be an above average or great player, you have to expand what you're capable of doing. Where you are right now is what you are. You've got to expand that in order to fit those new goals, those new performance goals right there. Okay? The shark is the performance, right? People are going to come in and they're going to look at your fishing and say, oh, wow, that's an amazing shark. But they don't, they don't understand, like, oh, I had to go out and I had to, you know, work to get a fish tank big enough so I could fit this shark, right? I didn't, you know, I didn't start off with this right here. So, you know, everybody's so caught up in the performance of it, which is, you know, kind of the outcome. Like, okay, you know, this person goes out and scores 20 points per game. But the process of getting a bigger fish tank to fit that shark, that's learning. And that's what your priority has to be if you want to eventually get that shark or get those great performances. So our goal needs to be expanding what we can do. That's got to be our biggest goal if you want to get better at the game of basketball. It's not to perform and look, look good all the time. Okay? So you could view this very simply. I've used the word expand over and over and over again, and that's because it's literally what we're doing. We're literally just expanding. And imagine that, you know, in order to get better, you have your comfort zone. And we just want to be right on the edge of that comfort zone at all times, looking to expand it as much as possible. We only are going to be able to do that if we're on the edge of that comfort zone, because it's going to force us to expand, right? You're going to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, and it's going to force you to figure out how to be successful. And that's how you improve your ability to do something, right? That's how you get better at something. And so for a lot of players, though, it's. It's the opposite. When they work out, they just want to go, and all they care about is looking as good as possible. I got to make this percentage of my shots, or else it was a terrible workout. And that's how they view everything, right? If I didn't shoot as well as I feel like I could have, then it was awful. And they don't actually take into account, like, did I really expand what I'm able to do, right? Or did I just stay in my comfort zone the whole time and do things that I'm already comfortable doing? And because of this, they. They're not willing to look bad when they train there. They're not willing to really push themselves at the potential risk that, hey, I might not shoot as well as I could because what I'm doing is a little more difficult. And because of that, they never expand what they're capable of doing, and they never get that bigger fish tank, and they never have the shark because they're not willing to, in practice, push themselves and be uncomfortable with what they're doing to try and expand. So how can you make sure that you get a bigger fish tank so that you can perform better in games and overall just be better on the court? And here's a concept that's going to completely change the way that you view your workouts, your drills. It's called the Goldilocks principle. So it's the story of Goldilocks, right? Where, you know, she walks into the random house, and there's a chair. One's too tall, one's too short, one's just right. She goes to lay down. One bed is too firm, One bed is too soft. One bed is just right. And that's what we want to think about when we work out, when we train, is we want to be not in an area where it's too hard, not in an area where it's too easy. But we want to be right in the middle of that because that's going to put us in the learning zone which is going to allow us to actually expand what we're capable of doing. Think about it this way. You can view all your workouts on a scale of 1 to 10, or all your drills on a scale of 1 to 10. One is super easy. Like you don't have to think about it. It's just whatever. 10 is like almost impossible. Like really, really difficult. And we want to be between a, a level four and a level eight as much as possible because that's going to put us again in that ideal, in that ideal zone in a one through three. Level one through three weren't. We're not really challenging ourselves at all. So we have. Our body has no reason, our brain is no reason to adapt and become better at something because we're already doing a great job at it. This is what I see from a lot of players who just go and shoot these spot up shots that they're already pretty good at and they never try and challenge themselves what they do. And because of that, they never get better because they aren't forced to get better. So 1 to 3 want to avoid. And then in that 9 to 10 range where it's really difficult and you're not, you're not really succeeding very often, it's going to be hard for you to really make adjustments because you're so overwhelmed with everything that's going on. So we don't want to be up there, but we want to be in that 4 to 8 range. It provides a solid level of challenge where you aren't succeeding every time, but you're not failing every time either. And that's the range that's going to help you get that bigger fish tank because it's going to force you to find ways to overcome the difficulties that are going to come with challenging yourself in your training. And that's how skill is developed and built. So how can you adjust your drills and your workouts to make sure that you're in this range? First of all, like I said, forget about performing, forget about how you look in your workouts. That doesn't matter, right? There's no coaches. Maybe there's a coach, but there's no, there's no scoreboard, right? There's no, you know, there's no fans. This isn't counting towards a championship. Like nothing really matters, right? All that matters Is whether or not you got better, not how many shots you made, not how good you looked. All that matters is whether or not you get better. So start to understand that. But the first thing is that you need to find ways to potentially make reps harder. So if we're in that 1 to 3 range, how can we make reps harder? Well, you can add pressure. You can do that by saying, okay, instead of just having to make five shots, I've got to make three in a row or four in a row, whatever's challenging to you. So now there's pressure onto those shots. And then another one could be add time or a time constraint. I've got to make this amount of shots in 30 seconds, right? Instead of saying, oh, I'm just gonna make five shots, oh, no, I gotta. I gotta make five shots in 25 seconds. And now there's another element of. Of time constraining you a little bit. This is gonna force you to maybe be a little uncomfortable with what you're doing. You can add competition. So if you can be with somebody, you can work on shooting or. Or whatever the case may be. And now you're competing with somebody to get a higher number or to finish something first. Now there's a level of difficulty and challenge and competition that's going to make workouts a little bit harder. And then adding difficulty by moving back farther or moving, you know, being. Going faster into what you're doing. Another way to just add challenge and maybe bump that workout or drill that's like a two or three to like a four or five or a six or seven, maybe even an eight if you can. If you can muster that. And then on the back side of that, making things easier. So if you're at a 9 or a 10, remove those challenges that we just talked about. You know, move closer, go slower. But constantly finding ways to keep yourself in that 8 to 10 range, that is how you are going to accelerate your learning. You got to be okay with looking bad in your workout sometimes, with failing, with messing up sometimes. And understand that's part of the process. When you do those things, you're going to get better, and you're going to get a lot better than you would if, you know, you just stuck with what's comfortable the whole time. So the third thing that's really important to do when it comes to getting better is to have a plan. So you need to have a plan when it comes to what you're going to do. The worst spot you can be in is, like, aimlessly kind of just floating around, you know, and not really having an idea of where you're moving towards or where you're going. And so let's look back to our SWOT analysis. What is it that you need to focus on moving forward? Right. If my weakness is ball handling and driving to the basket, I've got to make sure that I really focus on doing those things. It's going to be really important for me to do. So what's your plan to tackle those things? Do you have, you know, your workouts planned out? Do you know exactly what you're going to do? Okay, tomorrow I'm going to do this. Next I'm going to do this. And then when I get to the gym or I get to the park or the court, I know exactly what five drills I'm doing today. Do you, do you have that planned out? Because if you don't, it's very easy for you to be able to, you know, go back on what you said you would do or forget to do something. And next thing you know, you've kind of been aimlessly floating around, not really going in any sort of direction, not really getting better. So you've got to make sure that you are moving yourself towards something. And to do that, you got to make sure that you have a plan. So get yourself a plan or a program or something that's going to keep you from focused on what you need to be able to do. And if you guys need workouts that and a plan that's going to give you something to do, something to focus on and challenge you, click the top link in my description below. Get my free program, which again is going to help you take those skills to another level. A lot of stuff we've talked about already being in that challenge zone, like we tackle that a lot. So top link in my description below. If you guys need a program and get completely free, so go check that out. I also have a ton of workouts here on YouTube too, so you can check those too. Then the fourth thing is you got to take care of the non basketball stuff. And the first thing I'll say about this is you need to get stronger and more athletic because the game favors players who are strong and athletic. That's just, that's how basket, that's how every sport works, but it's how basketball works for sure. And it's going to help you improve in every single area of the game. So the first thing is that it's a myth that lifting weights will stunt your growth or, or ruin your shot. There's no excuse to not be doing it. And you know, if you want to be the best player that you can possibly be, every single player that you watch on tv, college, NBA, whatever, every single one of them is lifting weights. Every single one. And if your goal is to be like any of those players, then you've got to, you should be doing the same thing, right? If every single one of them is also doing that. So I just dropped a whole video talking about this. I'll link that above where I go into depth on why this is, on what's important. And I also give you just a free program that you can do, a free lifting program you can do that will help you to get stronger, more athletic, be able to jump higher, run faster, all those things that matter in your basketball, that's inside of that video. So we take that video with that program and on top of the free limb, the free elite permanent score workout, that's in the top link in my description below. That's basically two programs you can follow that's going to really supercharge your development really in every area of the game. So basically you guys check that out as well. And like I said, I'll link that above. And then the other area of that is just watching and studying the game. So, you know, learning the game more, improving your basketball iq. Watching basketball, like watching full games again, I talked about this in a podcast episode, you know, about a week ago, where I just talked about the importance of watching full games and learning and seeing, okay, why did that player do this? Why do they do that? Right? So watching college games, NBA games, other high school games, whatever the case may be, and then watching your own games and seeing where you can be better too, I think is really important as well when it comes to being able to improve yourself as a basketball player. When you watch other players play, it accelerates you getting better because you only have so many reps yourself, right? But if I watch somebody else play and I also learn from what they do, I, I can get 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 times the amount of reps mentally because I can watch other people play. I can't play basketball every single hour of the day, but I can spend a lot of time watching the game and that's going to help me to get better a lot faster as well. Okay? So area number four, take care of those non basketball things. If you guys do these things, you're going to get better at basketball. And if you really commit to it, you're going to get better a lot faster than the majority of players will. So again, click that top link in my description below to get my free Elite Perimeter Score workout if you guys are interested in that. I appreciate you guys for watching. Drop a like subscribe if you're new. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace.