The Four Steps To Making The Team - Basketball Tryouts (Podcast Episode 75)

Foreign welcome to the Vision of Battle Training Podcast. Appreciate you guys who tuned in today listening on Apple podcasts or Spotify or Google podcast or Pandora or SoundCloud, whatever this podcast is at. This podcast is in a bunch of different places. I get emails every day from people telling me that my podcast is now on here and then it's on there and then people want to put my podcast on there and I don't even, I can't even keep up with it all. So wherever you're listening from, I appreciate you guys taking the time and listening to the show and of course everybody, all of our loyal YouTube viewers, you guys who are here every week. I appreciate you guys and I also appreciate you guys who might be new to the show as well. Shout out to you guys for watching. If you are new, make sure you subscribe. New podcast comes every single week. And also mixed in with that is breakdowns, workouts. This past week I posted a workout and a breakdown talking about shooting off the dribble. If you guys have not checked that out, I highly recommend that you do. I also have some audio cues that I kind of added to that right there into the workout. I think you guys are really going to enjoy it. I think it's a really fun workout. So I think you guys should go check that out. Also in terms of on top of being fun, I think it's really, really effective when it comes to actually building your guys ability to shoot the ball off the dribble. So if you guys have not watched that video, go back on my channel, check that out. And again, yeah, if you're new, make sure you subscribe. Drop a like as well. If you guys are on Apple podcast, do me a favor, scroll down the bottom of the page. Subscribe, leave a review. Have not gotten a review to read in September yet. So you guys will be the first review to be read on the show in September. Drop a review. Let me know what you think about the show and I appreciate that. So as we roll into the fall, it's mid September right now, so I think technically fall starts. Is it the 21st in like three days from when I'm recording this? That might be off. I think it's the 21st though. I think it's when fall officially starts. All right, if I'm wrong, you guys can correct me in the comments. I'm pretty sure that's, that's the. What is the, the autumn. Not the solstice, but it's the autumn equinox I think is what it's called. The technical term, we're going to get into all the. All that sort of stuff. But my point being we're rolling into the fall, into the preseason for a lot of you guys. Tryouts are like, right around now I get, I get comments on my video. I posted a video like two years, almost two years ago on my channel talking about tryouts, which actually might be my most. Now, it's not my most popular video, but it's up there. It's got a lot of views. And every year around, like September, October, it really starts to pick up again. Like every year I get, I start to get comments on it, like multiple comments every single day, like talking about tryouts. So I figure this is a time where you guys are probably starting to get back into that. So I wanted to dive into tryouts, how to make the team, how to give yourself the best chance of being on the team, and ultimately just how to have the best experience possible. Right. And you know, for me, this comes from all the trials I went through as a player, but also me as a coach. Now I coach a high school team, so I'm. I'm the head JV coach of a team and assist with the varsity. So, you know, we have that, our tryout. We're at a pretty big school, so we have the tryout, you know, situation every year back middle school, high school. Right. I remember the days of, you know, AAU tryouts where it's nerve wracking, but there's certainly things you can do to, you know, give yourself a better, a better chance, put yourself in a better position. Stuff that's very controllable, that you guys can literally do. Like right now, that's going to put you in a better position come trial. So whether that's now, whether that's, you know, in, in my state in Pennsylvania, trials aren't for another two months. Like, we don't start basketball for another two months. So I know some of you guys start really early, which is really weird to me. I don't know, like, how you guys just skip football season and go straight to basketball, but I guess in other states you guys might do that. It's not how things work here. So let's dive into it. I have a few points I want to go through kind of going from like the, the most simple points to like, getting more to the basketball side of things. I think this is about basketball, of course, but there's other aspects to it that I think you guys should think about. So the first thing that you guys want to keep in mind going into tryouts is that you want to be a player that the coach or coaches want to have, right? You want to be a player that the coaches like. That's the first and foremost thing you guys have to have to think about, right? When the coach sees you, the coach thinks of you. You should be a player, a person that they like, right? That's going to give you just immediately. It's common sense, right? If you, if you like a person and you don't like another person, you're more likely to choose the person you like than you are to choose the person you don't like or are neutral about, right? So there are certain ways a lot of players are going to go to tryouts and they're not necessarily going to be disliked by the coaches, but they're just going to be neutral. Like, the coaches are not really going to think, you know, strongly of them either way. They're not gonna necessarily be like, oh, I really like that kid. But they're also not gonna be like, oh, I hate that kid. They're just gonna be like, oh, he's, he's fine. You know, he's pretty average, right? And what I mean by this is, again, this is not, I'm not even talking basketball right now. I'm literally just talking like what you bring to the table when it comes to the other, the other part of, of the game, which is you're, you know, talking about your effort, which we'll get to in a second. But the first thing is just your first impression, right? Be on time, right? And by be on time, be early if you can be, right, if you can be 15 minutes early to tryouts, then do that, right? If you're able to get on the court a little bit early, not only is it going to be a good thing for you, more than likely physically and mentally, get yourself prepared, but also it's good to be early. If you can be early, right? Or at the very least, you've got to be there on time. That means, like, if Your child's at 3 o', clock, your shoes are tied, you're standing on the baseline at 3 o', clock. Like, this is not you. You walk into the gym at 2:59 and you're still tying your shoes at 301. Like, that's not how it should work for you. So if you want to set yourself up for success, do not set yourself up for failure by being late to the trial like that. That, again, should be common sense to you. Like, I should have to say that But I feel like, I feel like I should start with that, right? Be on time. Like that's. Be on time or be early if you can be. That's. That's the best thing you can do when it comes to actually interacting with your coaches there. You want to be respectful, right? That's the biggest thing. Just be respectful. That's all that you really have to do. And the, I guess the best way I can kind of describe this in a tangible way is just make eye contact and listen with your eyes and your ears, right? So as your coders are talking, you should be making, you should be looking them in the eye as they're talking. If they gather you guys in a group and they're explaining something just to make sure you're not drifting out, drifting in and out of things. Make eye contact and listen with your eyes and your ears again. I feel like I'm teaching like a class like a second graders right now. Like, hey, guys, you gotta use your eyes and your ears to listen. But it's really like elementary sort of stuff when it comes to being a player that coaches like, it's just elementary kind of like, you know, normal, like easy things. But they're so basic that you'd be surprised at the amount of players who just don't do it. Right. The coaches are talking and they're looking all around the room and they're, they're looking at their friend over there. They're looking at the wall, they're looking at, you know, they're looking out the window, looking at the sun, they're looking at the clouds. You know, a couple of their friends walk by outside. They're looking out there. Like you'd be surprised at how much that happens. And the coach says something that they should remember that's going to be helpful for them. And they just goes in one ear and out the other because they're not listening. So again, your eyes should be on your coach, making eye contact with them whenever they're talking, because that's going to help you listen and remember that information better. But also that's going to give them, okay, you know, he's listening, she's listening, right? And again, that starts to elevate you and their, their view of you. Okay? That's, that's a kid who's respectful, who's going to listen, who I don't have to repeat things to. And, and that's the other thing. You have to hear things the first time they're said, right? The worst thing you can do at a tryout is be that player who has to have things repeated to them over and over and over. You get into a drill and. And we can go on a tangent right here, right? If you are the third person in line for a drill, and the first person in the drill messes it up. Coaches. Okay, guys, here's how I actually do it. The next person goes up and they do it, right? And then you go in. You'd make that same mistake the first person makes. That's a great way for you to go in the eyes of the coach. Go the exact opposite way you want to go. That's where you. You go into. Oh, okay. Well, he doesn't listen very well. She doesn't listen very well, right? You have to not only learn from what your coaches say, but from other people's mistakes. I talked about this a couple weeks ago. Where, you know, your reps or, you know, it's not just about your reps, it's about the reps of other people, right? Every rep in the gym should be yours. If you're on the sideline or on the baseline waiting to get in, you should be paying attention to whatever's happening in the court as if you were on the court. That's going to give you a mental advantage when you step up and now it's your turn, right? Because you already have processed what happened before. So when somebody else made a mistake on the play before you saw that happen, you took note of it, and now you're on the court, you're not going to make that same mistake, right? As if, again, if you're on the sidelines, staring at the wall, staring at the floor, staring at the clock, waiting for practice to be over, then you're going to get on the court, make that same mistake, and now you look worse than the person who made the mistake the first time, okay? So that's what you have to understand. You need to hear things the first time they're said. So this goes back to making eye contact and listening with your eyes and ears, right? The coaches, the coach says something to you and. And gives you directions if you hear them, right? And you're able to carry that out again, that makes a coach's life easy, right? Coaches have so much to worry about with having a coach. However many kids are on your team, 12, 15, 17, 18 players in the team, the last thing they need is to have to repeat things to players over and over and over again. You want to make their life as easy as possible, right? And that just goes back to listening, hearing things the first time. And when other people make mistakes, you, you don't repeat those mistakes. Especially if it's something that the coaches stop as a, hey, we're not doing this, we're doing that, okay? So that's the biggest thing right there is you have to listen, you have to learn from mistakes that happen in the gym. This all being said, guys, what I don't want this to be is where you become a suck up to the coach. Do not do that. Right? Coaches see through that stuff. So you might think that you're slick with that. Coaches see through it so quickly, right. They'll be able to, they can tell so fast. And that's another way for you to go down the list in terms of like, okay, I, I really can't stand this kid. Right? If you're a coach, like, you might, you might dislike the kid who sucks up to you and is really fake about it more than you dislike the kid who doesn't listen. Right? Because at least the kid who doesn't listen, like, you know what, you know what he is? You know what she is. You know, when you have a kid who's just like, you know, clearly trying to like, put on a front as like, oh, I'm this really great listener. I'm this really great. But they're not like that, then that's just a kid that you don't like. You don't really know anything about them. So you might, you might end up disliking them even more. So don't be that kid. You should genuinely try and be attentive to what they're saying. You should genuinely be trying to listen and do things the best that you can. This is not to put on a show. This is just because that's what a respectful person does, right? That's what a good, a good player does, is they listen and they do things the right way. Okay? So let's keep that in mind as well. And that kind of rolls into point number two. I kind of mentioned this earlier is you have to bring your best effort and a great attitude. Right? Again, not basketball related things at all. Okay. Again, we can go, we go for a while just talking about not basketball related things. But the first thing is be a player that the coaches like somebody that they want on the team. And then the second thing is just your effort, your ads. You control those two things and they're entirely controllable. They're all up to you. And they make such a huge difference. Such a major difference, right? It takes no talent at all to Be vocal and to talk on the basketball court. But again, it's something that just doesn't happen way more than you think that it would. For something that's so easy to do, talking to your teammates on defense, hey, I've got ball. Hey, I've got help, right? Like that's, that's. That type of stuff is so easy to do, and yet a lot of players don't do it. And when coaches see or hear guys who talk and are really, really vocal on defense, that makes the entire team better, right? If I am, if I'm in help and. And I'm telling my teammate, oh, hey, screen coming, screen coming, screen right, screen right. And it's almost like, it's almost like you are elevating your teammate now because they can't see behind them, but you can. So you almost give them eyes in the back of their own head because now they know what's coming, right? They might say, hey, hand off coming, handoff coming, or, hey, screen coming. You know, get through it, get through it, get through it, right? You guys can communicate these things, and you're making your teammates better by doing that. And again, coaches want players who make the team team better, who make their teammates better. And by just talking on defense, that's a simple way to do that, right? So be a vocal person defensively, right? And, and doesn't have to stop on. On defense. That's not basket wise. It can literally be like, you're vocal, you're encouraging your teammates, right? Your teammate misses a layup, your teammate has something up, you know, you're there to pick them up and, and you know, be like, all right, hey, we'll get the next one. Hey, good shot, good shot. Hey, we'll get like, that's the type of stuff that again, makes the team better, right? Makes your teammates play better, right? When your teammate misses a layup and they're probably frank, frustrated and flustered, and you go over and you encourage them, you say, hey, that's, you know, it's all good that you're gonna make the next one, right? That is something that's gonna make them better, right? And they're all of a sudden gonna get off of, oh, I just missed the layup. So, okay, he's right. Maybe I'll make the next one, right? So you. That's again, something takes no talent to do. It's literally just you being a good teammate. And that is, it's just an effort thing. It's an effort thing that you, that you have to either want to do or you either don't want to do it. And. And that goes with your attitude, too, right? Being positive when things go wrong, when your teammate misses a layup, when you miss a layup, when you, you know, you make a turnover, your teammate makes a turnover, right? What is your attitude like? Are you sulking around with your head down when it happens, or are you positive, getting everybody, you know, focused on what's next? Right. That's where you should be. And then going along with that, too, is just playing hard on defense and playing hard when it comes to rebounding. Right now, there's a whole thing I probably have to make an episode talking about this Market smart tweeted out it was either today or yesterday about, like, how defense is almost no talent. It's all about just effort. I don't agree with that, actually, but I think to be an elite defender, you have to have some. Some talent. You have to be a good athlete. So I'm not saying you have to go to the tryout and be the best defender there. That's not what I mean, because you might not be, right? You might. That's not something you control. You might go there. There might be some really great athletes who are great defenders because they're great athletes, right? Maybe you are a great athlete, and that's the case. You should want to be the best defender. There's. But what I mean by this is, again, just the controllables, right? You're playing as hard as you can on defense, right? You're trying your best to stop the man in front of you. You're making sure that you're getting into help. When the ball is two passes away, when the ball's on the opposite side of the floor, you're in help talking to your teammates, okay? When the shot goes up, you're finding your man, boxing out, and you're going hard. After the rebound, you're crashing. The board's hard, right? A coach can see that. And again, that goes back to an effort thing. So if I see that this. This guy's playing hard on defense and rebounding the ball, that lets me know that at the very least, that's a coachable kid right there, right? So whether or not you are a great defender or a great rebounder like that, that means that we can work with that, right? If you're. If you play hard, you're probably coachable, meaning that you can probably get better at those things, right? You can probably get better when we. When we start to work on our offense, you're gonna be able to get better because you work hard at it, right? So it's not always about the service level. Oh, I'm not a great defender. So what's the point? Well, the point is you have to show that you're willing to play hard and you're willing to be coachable. And that's what that, that below the surface actually tells you. So something to think about as well. Now, these two areas, right? Being a player, the coach is like, and then your effort and your attitude, these do not guarantee you're a made of the team, right? At the end of the day, you have to, you have to be good enough. You can't, you can't be horrible and do these two things and expect to make the team. If there's a lot of good players who are trying out, right, Obviously every situation is going to be different. So some schools might not have to cut anybody. Some schools might have 70 kids who go and try out. And you obviously can't keep 70 kids on a basketball team, right? So there's going to be, somebody's going to be the odd man out, right? So that's something you have to keep in mind. But something that you have to think about is that when a coach really likes a player, they're going to try and find a way to get them on the team. They're going to say, oh man, like I, I, that kid might not be ordinarily good enough to be on the team, but like, I really like that kid and I think that he is going to be a positive impact on the rest of our team. And you know, that's, that's conversations as coaches that we have all the time, like, oh, you know, this kid might not play a ton, but everybody likes him and he plays hard and he's just a good, like a good dude to have on the team. That's, that's, that's a conversation that I guarantee every coaching staff has. And so you can think of it like this, right? You might have the, you know, if you're a coach, right, you're going to keep 15 guys in your roster, let's say, and you know, you're getting down to cutting people. Maybe you have 30, 30 guys try out. You'd only keep 15 of them. And you know, by the time you get to like guy 13, 14, 15, those guys probably aren't going to play a ton. So maybe you have guy 15, who, who's the 15th best player in the gym, basketball wise, that's the 15th best guy. So he probably will make the team. But maybe guy number 20, 20th best player in the gym, is doing these things, right? Maybe they. They. They're a player who's. Who's always listening, paying attention, listens the first time, right? Follows directions well, doesn't repeat other people's mistakes, talks on defense, is encouraging to his teammates, plays hard. And because of that, the coach is like, man, I. We got to try and find a spot for this kid. So maybe they decide, hey, at this point, like, they cut the guy who's the 15th best guy, and they keep that guy who's the 20th, even though he's. He's not quite as good. They want that guy because he's gonna be the 15th guy. He might not play a ton, but he's gonna be a positive impact on the rest of the team. He's gonna make guy number eight better. He's gonna make guy number nine better. He's gonna make guy Number six better. He's gonna make guyNumber four better. Okay? That's what Cody's thinking about, too. If I put this guy on the team, is he gonna make my team better? Is he gonna help elevate everybody else? So if you can be that. That. That guy, that girl who elevates the people around them, then it almost. The basketball stuff becomes almost secondary to that, right? Not completely. Again, depends on the situation, but that's something to think about as well. So that goes with those two points, right? Being a player that coaches like and then your effort and your attitude and making sure that those are stuff that you control and that you take full advantage of those things and then kind of moving into, like, the basketball side of things. You want to make sure that you stick to what you do well, right? Don't go out there and, oh, you watched a James Harden video yesterday. You saw him do some step back that you really think that you want to try. You've never done it before. So you go out and try out and shoot three of them. Don't do that, right? Don't be that. Don't be that player who goes out to try and prove something at tryouts. Stick to what you do well. If you're a point guard who handles the ball, gets people involved, but you can't really shoot the ball, then don't go out shooting the ball. Don't go out trying to make threes if that's not what you do well, okay, Be a point guard. Get people involved. Get to the basket. Do the things that you do well. Right? If you're a shooter, then don't try and Kyrie Irving people and break people down off the dribble because chances are you're going to lose the ball and look bad, right? You don't want to do that. Stick to what you do well. You shoot the ball well, then find opportunities to shoot the ball. Okay? If you're a great defender, be a great defender. Maybe you're a great defender. You're not like a great offensive player. Don't go out there trying to launch shots every time. Be the best defender in the gym if that's what you're good at, right? If you're just a real tough, physical guy or girl and you rebound the ball really, really well, you play good, good defense inside. Do those, do those things, okay? Stick to those things that you do well. I'm not saying play timid or play or overthink things. Oh, I'm not. I'm not great at this. So I can't take a wide open shot. I'm not saying that. I'm saying as best you can, stick to the things that you are good at. And in general, that's going to help you look the best that you can. Because again, tryouts are about. They're about the impression that you give off, right? It might not be in two or three days of tryouts like that might not be. You might not get to show everything you are as a player. Right? The coaches probably, if they've only seen you at tryouts, they're not going to know exactly what you are as a player in two to three days, more than likely. Okay? But they should be able to think, okay, well, that guy can do this, right? That girl can do that. And that would be the reason that we would put them on a team. Okay? She shoots the ball well, or she's confident going to the basket, or she. She plays great defense or he rebounds well, right? They know what you do well. And at the end of the day, what you have to. What you have to think about is how you impact winning. We talked about it before, with your effort, your attitude, elevating your teammates. That impacts winning. But also when it comes to the actual basketball part of things, what do you do that puts your team in a position to win? Okay, do you make shots? Are you a good shooter? Well, that. That can impact winning, right? In a positive way. Can you handle the ball? Can you handle pressure? Can you get your teammates open? Right? Can you run an offense that impacts winning? You need that on a team. Can you play great defense? Again, that's something that impacts winning. That Great teams need. And so making the team is not about going out there and being Mr. Everybody, right? Trying to be LeBron and being the best shooter and the best passer and the best rebounder and the best defender and the best whatever. Like, you don't have to be everything. If you are everything, then be that. But if you aren't, stick to the things that you do well and the coaches will see how you impact winning the best. And then they'll, they'll figure, okay, hey, we can use some players who can make shots, we can use some players who play defense, we can use some players who can handle the ball. And that's how you become somebody that coaches say, okay, we need them on the team because of this. If you go out there and you try and do everything and you might not be good at those things, they might not have a reason to say, hey, well, we don't. I mean, what is, what does he do well, what does she do well, we don't know because they didn't really showcase that. So you got to stick to the things that will get you playing time, right? Will get you on the team right now. Okay? And again, that's not saying you, you're going to be in that role forever or for the whole season even, but for right now, it is a short term focus. What are you good at right now? This is not time to work on anything. It's time to be good at what you're good at right now. And if you're not good at something else, then now's not a time to try and be good at it. That's. That's. That was what we. That was what March through October was for, Right? It's not for November, at least not in Pennsylvania. The last thing I'll talk about is just mental preparation, right? So what you want to do is just prepare yourself what you're going to see. If you've been to a tryout before, probably going to be pretty similar. Most tryouts are very similar. You get in there, stretch a little bit, usually do some sort of layup drill, maybe do a shooting drill, maybe do a little ball handling, maybe, you know, do some rebounding or defense, then usually play a little bit. And that's typically how a tryout is formatted, right? Depending, you know, it'll vary a little bit, but generally it's about, it's about that. If you've been to a couple of tryouts, there's not much you're going to see that's more than likely going to be Different. So run yourself through that, right? Run yourself through how you see yourself playing, right? Put yourself in that position. Okay? You're thinking about your trial tomorrow, okay? You see yourself out there doing what you do well. Okay? You're going out there and you're, you're a point guard and you, you run the off. Well, that's what you're, you're, you're envisioning, right? You're. You're walking yourself through that. Okay? I'm going out there and I'm making a great pass. I'm handling pressure. I'm getting my teammates open. I'm coming off the pick and roll and I'm finding my, my big on the roll. I'm driving and I'm. I'm creating a driving kick for my teammates. They can hit a three. You're thinking about that sort of stuff. You're a shooter. You're thinking about, okay, I'm getting the shot in the corner. Boom. I just hit that shot. Okay? I catch the ball again. They close out to me. So now I shot fake and I'm two dribbles to the, to the mid range for a shot, right? You're thinking about those sort of things. I'm coming off an off ball screen to the elbow, cash and shoot. Thing about running yourself through those situations already, okay? So that you feel like once you get there, okay, like, I'm comfortable, I've done this. I like this. I'm ready to go. And that goes along. Just visual, like visualization, right? I've talked about that before, but visualizing is so powerful, and you can use that to your advantage in a situation like this as well, just to feel more confident, to feel like, okay, I've been here before. Because you kind of have run yourself through what you expect at these trials right here. So that's another thing that I recommend, guys, just mentally preparing yourself as well. And those are really my keys for having a successful tryout, for putting yourself, again, the best position to make the team. Okay? And so, again, run through it real quick. Number one, most important thing is be a player that the coaches like. Number two is make sure that you give your best effort. You have a great attitude. Number three is stick to what you do well and avoid what you don't do well. And then number four is mentally prepare yourself. Okay? You focus on doing those four things. Then you're going to put yourself in the best position possible during tryouts. And ultimately, that's all you can ask for, right? You are what you are when you get to tryouts Right. But you want to make sure you maximize all the other stuff as well, and that gives you the best chance of being on the team and having a great year. So hopefully that helps you guys out with that. Gives you guys some. Some confidence. I hope, going forward with that. And again, as things start to pick up, I'm sure I'll hear more and more about how trials are going for you guys. You guys had trials already. Let me know. Let me know where you're from as well. I still think it's weird that I see people having tryouts in, like, September. Like, that's just so foreign to me. AAU trials, I understand, but, like, school basketball tryouts right now is really, really weird. But I figured I'd get this out because some of you guys are having that now. So, again, hope that helps you guys out. If you guys are on YouTube, make sure you drop a like and subscribe. And again, drop a comment. Talking. We talk about tryouts. You could say you have anything to add to this. You have any suggestions for topics moving forward, stuff you want to hear? Drop that in the comments. If you're on Apple podcast, scroll on the bottom page, leave a review, let me know what you think about the show. Really helps me out. I appreciate that. I'll talk to you guys soon. Oh, actually, also give me a follow on Instagram. Vision Driven Basketball. Been posting good amount on there. I'm gonna try and post a little bit more as well. I'm always posting on my story, right? And a lot of times in my story, I'm posting questions I might ask for recommendations on videos on podcasts. And a lot of times that's the stuff that I see. I just. It's easier for me to see that than it is for me to see YouTube comments. Sometimes I get way more YouTube comments than I do, like, you know, answers to my Instagram stories. So make sure you guys give me a follow there at VisionDriver basketball. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace, Sam.