Why Your Training Isn’t Showing Up in Games (And How to Fix It)

When I was a young player, I used to think that more workouts automatically equal better in game performance. But I still remember feeling so much frustration when the things that I was working on didn't actually translate into me playing better in games. I was doing the right things and I felt like in practice and workouts I was getting better. But none of that actually showed itself when it really mattered and the lights were on. So if you understand the frustration of not seeing the work you're putting in translate into in game results, I understand. But right now I'm going to explain to you exactly how to make sure that you can eliminate this problem forever. That the work you're putting in is actually going to result in you playing better in games. And I'm going to give you the two most important things to do if you want to make sure that this happens before I get into it. If you click the top link in the description down below. I created the 15 point per game blueprint. One of the goals that I hear the most from players is that they want to be able to score 15 points per game or better. Now, not every player is going to be able to score 15 points per game or more, but a lot more players could. They just have no idea how to actually do it. So I created this blueprint. It's seven steps you need to follow if you want to become a player who can score 15 points per game or better. It's only 20 minutes long, so if you can't spend 20 minutes on that, I don't know what to tell you. That's completely free. And like I said, it's the top link in the description down below. The first thing I need to do is tell a quick story that's going to relate perfectly to this situation that you're struggling through. Everybody knows about Apple. Chances are you're watching this on an iPhone or on a Mac, more than likely. Apple was founded by a guy named Steve jobs. But in 1985, Apple fired Steve Jobs Jobs, and they brought in John Shuley instead. Now, Shuley came over from Pepsi. He was very accomplished, he was very talented. And so he became the new head at Apple. So outside looking in, Apple was in great hands. They had a really talented CEO, they had the best engineers that money could buy. They had all the tech, they had all the resources to become the most dominant company ever. But over the next few years, they completely lost their direction and they were on the path to going bankrupt. So they fired John Schuli and they brought back Steve Jobs. And then fast Forward to today, Apple's worth about $3.4 trillion. Now, this lesson is so important for one reason. When Apple brought in John Shuley to replace Steve Jobs. On the surface, John Shuley was talented, he was experienced and he had access to everything. But at the end of the day, he wasn't Steve Jobs. And that was a problem. He didn't have the vision, the wisdom, or the decision making that Steve Jobs had. And because of that, even though he had all of the tools at his dispense, he couldn't run the company. And this lesson is exactly why so many players out there struggle to translate their practice into games. Because they're developing all these tools, but when we talk about how to actually apply them, they're not yet the person who's capable of actually doing that. A lot of players are too concerned with developing the right tools, shooting, ball handling, finishing different dribble moves, whatever, and they're not focused enough on becoming the person who's actually going to go out there and be able to apply those things. And if there's a disconnect right there, then it's just like the Apple situation. And even though everything is in place, they're doing everything right. The company's going to tank. Basketball is not just about how well you can shoot, how well you can dribble. It's also about your decision making under pressure, your confidence when you deal with adversity, the understanding of when to do what, and knowing exactly how to perform in the biggest moments. So just like Apple had the tools, but they lacked the vision to be able to keep on growing when Steve Jobs left. A lot of players have the skills, but they lack the mindset and the IQ to actually be the person who's deserving of having the success that they want on the court. So here are the two things you need to do if you want to become a Steve Jobs. Somebody who's going to go out and have success. The first one relates back to a really popular quote. Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor. A lot of times players are working on moves by themselves. In the gym, they're shooting by themselves. In the gym, they're doing stationary ball handling with no defender. It's easy in the context of what basketball is. The game is a lot harder than how they're practicing. So they get into games and they haven't been challenged enough to be able to meet the demands that are going to be placed on them to be successful in a game. So you need to fail more. You need to make sure that your Training is a little bit uglier and more difficult. If you want to have that work actually apply into games. You're training to become better. In real games, you're not training to get better at training. So there's a couple of ways you can do this. Number one, identify the drills that you're doing and find a way to make them harder. If it's a dribbling drill or a ball handling drill, go faster, dribble it harder, do something that's gonna raise your likelihood of making a mistake or losing the ball. If it's a shooting drill, find a way to make it more difficult. I'll link a video above that goes through what I mean by this, but adding different constraints to your shooting. Okay, my feet have to be a little bit off. I have to make sure that I'm shooting a different type of shot. Back to back to back to back to back to simulate what a game is going to be like, where I have to shoot on the wing that I got shoot the elbow, then I gotta shoot it on the baseline. Another really good way to add challenge to your workouts is work out with a partner as much as you possibly can. And when you do this, make as much of your workout live as possible. So instead of just doing stationary ball handling, maybe you do a little bit of that, but then after that you do some kill the grass where you're dribbling, maybe inside the half court circle and your teammate or your partner is trying to steal the ball from you. And then you guys just switch. Now you're working on actually being able to translate the handling that you're working on into a real game situation. And that's how you become successful in games. Going back to that quote I just gave, smooth seas never made a skilled sailor. If you want to actually be successful in games, you need to be that skilled sailor. So if your workouts are smooth seas, they're easy, they're predictable, you don't mess up, you're not challenged very much. Then when you get into those rough waters, which is what a game is, then that work's not going to translate. And the second thing that's so important, if you want your work to translate into games that you need to learn from other people, if you are completely relying on your own experiences on a basketball court to shape your ability to, then you are wasting so much of what is possible for you. Chances are when you go onto the court, you're not completely sure about what you should be doing. What are you trying to hunt? What is the best situation for you. How do you actually go out and hunt the right things that allow you to score points, to create for yourself, for your teammates, all of that. So go watch players who are similar to your position, maybe similar to your playstyle, and go see what it is that they do in games, what makes them successful. If you're a wing player who shoots a lot of threes, who go watch Cam Johnson, go watch Mikhail Bridges, go watch Derrick White, go watch Klay Thompson and look for the little minute details that help them be as great as they are. Spend 10 or 15 minutes just watching these guys and try and pick two or three things that you see repeatedly that you can add to your own game. We have a challenge inside of Basketball IQ Academy and shout out one of our members, Gabe, who really did a great job of this. And in this challenge, players are supposed to break down an NBA player and find the biggest takeaways. Now this is already powerful, but Gabe want to step up beyond that. And not only did he do that, but then he asked for feedback in terms of looking at how he could actually apply those things to his own games. Not only did he mention what he saw, but then he also wrote exactly how he can also do this in his game. That process alone made Gabe so much better at basketball and he didn't even have a ball in his hands when he did this. You have to watch. You have to learn from other players successes and their failures if you truly want to be the best player possible. It's incredibly frustrating when it feels like your work is not translating into games. But it doesn't have to be this way. You just have to make sure that number one, your training is actually preparing you for the game and there's enough challenge and difficulty in it. And then number two is watch, learn and figure out how to apply things that you watch other great players do so that you can go into games knowing exactly what you want to hunt. Like I mentioned earlier, check out that 15 points per game blueprint, top link in the description down below. Completely free. If you at all have a goal of being a high level scorer, you need to check this out. Let me know what you think down in the comments below. I appreciate you for watching. Talk soon. Peace.