You’re Not as Far Behind as You Think (Here’s Why)

I understand what it's like to be a player who feels behind, because that was how I always felt growing up. I always looked around and saw players ahead of me, even though I was obsessed with the game and I put in so much work. I would always talk about how my favorite part of the season was when it was over so that I could plan out exactly what I was going to do over the offseason, what I was going to get better at. I'd map out my entire daily schedule. Despite me doing those things and feeling like I'm putting in more time, more effort, and I love the game more than anybody else around me, I still felt like I wasn't really making progress compared to the players who were ahead of me. And it's. It's frustrating, and it feels like you're going to be stuck where you are forever and that you're never going to be able to get to where you know you should be as a player. And this is a problem that I hear from players every single day. So in this video, I want to give you not only some confidence, some encouragement, and the right mindset going forward, but I also want to give you the exact steps you need to take to not only catch up to the players ahead of you, but in a lot of cases, be able to pass some of those players as well. The concepts in this video will change your entire career if you apply them. The game has never been more competitive than it is now. Players are so skilled, so athletic, and there's such a high number of players at every level who are really, really good. What that means is that not everybody can make it, but there's always room for one more. And I think that's the mindset you first need to adopt if you're in this position. The best example of this is the NBA. Obviously the best league in the world. The most talented, great group of 450 players, incredibly competitive. Everybody is really, really good. But it seems like every single year there's a new player, multiple new players who I have never heard of before, who all of a sudden are making a massive impact. They went from not being on a roster or being buried on the bench to being starters, to being All Stars, to being all NBA players. Things change so quickly, and one more comes out of nowhere every single year. And there's countless examples of it. Something that really made me think about this was I saw a clip today of LeBron and Luka talking with Steve Nash on their podcast. And LeBron was talking about how there's really two skills that if you just had these two things, you can make hundreds of million dollars in the NBA. Not everybody has to be super ball dominant. But as he's talking about this, he mentioned the fact that, yeah, you know, most teams have like two players who are going to be ball dominant and are going to have the ball the majority of the time. Except for us, me, Luka and AR referring to Austin Reaves, which I think is a great example for this. Austin Reaves was an undrafted player and now LeBron is mentioning him in the same sentence as himself and Luka, who are going to be two first ballot hall of Famers. Both are going to go down as two of the greatest players to ever play. And Austin Reeves was an undrafted player who now is a focal piece in the Lakers offense. Playing with those two guys, I think in every sense of the word, we would say that Austin Reeves was behind those two. And in a lot of ways he obviously still is. But now look at what he's accomplished. Look at where he's at. Like I said, there is always room for one more. And that one more can be you. Meaning you need to shift all of your focus to yourself. Stop focusing on what other people are doing, stop focusing on how far ahead they are. What you don't have, it needs to become all about you and doing the right things. The question is how can you raise your value as a player so, so that you become undeniable and you close that gap with the players who are in front of you. Here's the best part of this. A lot of the players that you're competing with, that you're comparing yourself to, aren't actually doing the things that they want you to think that they are. Out of 100 players, 50 of them are not working consistently. So even if they're ahead of you right now, they're not doing the right things that are going to keep that gap or expand it. They're just kind of existing, maybe getting by on natural ability. 40 of the remaining players aren't training with a real purpose or a real focus. So they're not really improving all that much. And then of those 10 players left who are training consistently and training with a focus, a lot of those players are going to give up before they actually get to their breakthrough. So the real number of players you're competing with isn't actually as high as you think it is. And I guarantee you, if you follow the steps in this video, there's going to be very, very few players out there who are thinking the game the way that you are and who are going to be able to progress at the rate that you will. So the first step is getting really, really clear on how to make yourself a more valuable player. And then the second step is just sticking to that, consistently showing up every single day and doing those things. Regardless of how things go, you have to develop that resiliency of saying, I'm thinking about a month down the line, three months down the line, a year down the line, and if I do the right things that are going to make me more valuable, I'm going to get there if I just stick with it. Like I said, a lot of players just can't do that. So here's the crucial thing with this. Catching up and getting ahead of other players is about focus and it's about focusing on the high leverage skills. When I say high leverage skills, all that that means are the skills that have the biggest impact on the game. You have to think of this like building a house. When you build a house, it all starts with building a really strong foundation. If you build a strong foundation in your house, then you can make the most incredible house. You can have all the most amazing features in it. And that house is going to stay standing, it's going to stay sturdy through storms, it's going to stay sturdy through all sorts of things that could go wrong. Building that foundation allows you to build all the other things on that foundation, which is that house. That makes that foundation. Building that the most high leverage thing you can do when it comes to actually creating that house. It's the same thing as a basketball player. A lot of players struggle to make progress because they haven't focused on building their foundation. They're focusing on putting all the other stuff on top of that foundation that hasn't been solidified. So you get into games and and you don't see the results. The stuff you're working on isn't translating. And despite the work you're putting in, it's not actually resulting in you catching up to players who are ahead of you. And a lot of times it's because you're not focusing on the most high leverage areas that are going to allow you to actually do that. Now, this isn't because you don't want to get better. It's because a lot of times building the foundation isn't glamorous. And it's not the stuff that you see all over your social media. It's not the stuff that when you go to a trainer, it's not usually the stuff that you're going to talk about or focus on the most, which is an even better thing for you because it means that the most important things to focus on aren't really a focal point for many players at all, many coaches or trainers at all. And it's another thing that should give you a ton of confidence in terms of your ability to catch up and pass players ahead of you. So let's talk about what these high leverage skills are and how you can develop them. Chances are if you're struggling in this area, it's because you're too much of a generalist, meaning you're okay at a lot of things on the court. Maybe you're pretty good at some things and maybe you're a little worse at other things, but there's nothing that people look at and say, man, that really stands out. And because of that, you probably lack confidence and you definitely lack results. And it's going to be hard for you to catch up to anybody who's ahead of you. This idea of generalist for specialist is really apparent when we look at like medicine. A general practitioner is going to get paid a lot less than like a heart surgeon, somebody who's a specialist because there's so much value in being elite in a certain area. So in basketball, you, you need to focus on becoming a specialist in these high leverage areas. So let's talk about what this is going to look like. So I'm going to talk about the two most high leverage skills and then I'm going to give you a bonus two at the end. The first high leverage skill is shooting. But this again needs to be very focused and purposeful in terms of what shots actually matter and actually are high leverage. Specifically, you've got to get really good at catch and shoot threes. So off of spot ups, off of extra passes, off of different actions like pin downs and flare screens and hammer screens and staggered screens. Players who can make shots make an unbelievably high impact on the game. And the reason why we refer to these as high leverage areas is because when you make a small improvement in this area in a high leverage area, it actually leads to a massive result in the game. Think of it like a line of dominoes and you knock over that first domino. That's like a small, small thing. But what it leads to is this massive line of dominoes all collapsing because of one little action that you made. It's the same thing we talk about increasing your ability as a catch and shoot player. So like I said, this starts off with focusing on those Shots that I mentioned, the spot up shots, shots of different actions, then the next piece of that would be one or two drill pull ups. So if you can make catch and shoot threes and then you can make one or two drill pull ups coming like when you're attacking a closeout or when you're coming off of a ball screen or a handoff, and you can become a specialist in that area, you're going to make a massive impact and it'll completely change the game for you. I'll link a video above that goes more in depth into how you can develop this ability as a shooter. And the second super high leverage skill that you need to become a specialist in is basketball iq. So understanding how to read the game, how to recognize, create and exploit advantages that you have on offense, learning how to make the right decisions, knowing when to shoot, pass or drive, knowing how to move without the basketball, how to use screens, knowing your team's system and how to best play in that system. This is probably the single most important area if you want to be more successful and if you want to become a player who sees your work translate into in game success. Now I have a free basketball IQ masterclass linked down in the description below that goes through a ton of this stuff. When it comes to developing your basketball iq, it's going to help you to score more points, create more for your team, learn how to play the game and how to make a way bigger impact. And like I mentioned with shooting, when you make even a small increase in a high leverage area like basketball iq, it makes a massive impact on your results. Now there's two other really high leverage areas that if you make even a small increase in those areas, are going to make massive results for you in games. The first one is on court communication, Talking, being a leader, being present, becoming another coach on the floor, knowing what everybody else on the court is supposed to be doing, being willing and able to hold other players and yourself accountable. That is such a high leverage skill because not only does it make you a better player and allow you to impact the game more, but it makes everybody else on the court better. So when a coach looks at you, they say, well, if I play him, I play her. Not only are they going to make an impact themselves, but them just being there is going to elevate everybody else. That makes you way more valuable. Then the other area is defensive reliability. So obviously what jumps out is being able to guard on the ball and that, that definitely matters. That's really important. You, you don't want to be a liability on the ball. But I think the other area that's so important and a lot of a lot of times overlooked is developing IQ when it comes to defense. So team defense, how to play in gaps, how to play weak side defense, how to communicate through different actions, how to use different coverages when you see ball screens, when you see pin downs. You need to be trustworthy and reliable on defense, not just yourself, but from a team perspective. Now, if you put all of your focus into becoming a specialist in these four areas, shooting those shots that are really high impact, catch and shoot, threes one to two, drill, pull ups, basketball iq, being a leader on the court and being a reliable defender, the whole game changes for you. And while other players are taking minuscule steps forward, you're making massive leaps because that stuff is going to compound. And like I said, those are just four areas of the game, but they make the biggest impact that you can get. Locking in on these four things here, and especially on the first two, that's your key to not just catching up to players ahead of you, but passing a lot of them as well. Like I mentioned, check out that free IQ masterclass down below. It's going to do a ton for you. Hopefully this video not only encouraged you, but gave you some direction in terms of how to progress forward here. Thank you for watching. Talk soon. Peace.