Mental Preparation

An athlete's mental toughness points to his character. Preparing mentally is just as important as preparing physically. Mental attitude determines everything.

Sports visualization is one of the big keys to success. Visualizing yourself in successful situations in advance of their actually taking place is an important aspect of mental preparation.

Visualization (mental practice) and simulated practice works in many areas of life. For example, many professionals rehearse mentally what they're supposed to do before they do it. Once they have a mental picture, they then go through actual simulated practices. After visualizing the right way to perform their skills, pilots train in simulators, medical professionals practice on dummies, and lawyers rehearse in empty courtrooms.

Always first the mental rehearsal, then the simulated practice and, finally, the actual performance.

You should "play the game" SUCCESSFULLY in your mind before ever stepping on the floor for practice or a game. If you haven't tried this before, it's never too late. Visualize success and you will be successful.

Success comes to those who are most prepared!

Think positive and expect positive results!

Victory favors the prepared mind!

SELF-DISCIPLINE

Self-Discipline Quotes

“Discipline is a part of the will. A disciplined person is one who follows the will of the one who gives the orders. You teach discipline by doing it over and over, by repetition and rote, especially in a game like football where you have very little time to decide what you are going to do. So what you do is react almost instinctively, naturally. You have done it so many times, over and over and over again.”
—Vince Lombardi, NFL Super Bowl Champion Football Coach

“It has always been my thought that the most important single ingredient to success in athletics or life is discipline. I have many times felt that this word is the most ill‐defined in all of our language. My definition of the word is as follows: 1. Do what has to be done. 2. When it has to be done. 3. As well as it can be done. 4. Do it that way all the time.”
—Bob Knight, College Basketball's All-Time Winningest Coach and Hall-of-Famer

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. The key is discipline. Without it, there is no morale.”
—Tom Landry, NFL Football Coach

“I believe in discipline. You can forgive incompetence. You can forgive lack of ability. But the one thing you cannot ever forgive is lack of discipline.”
—Forrest Gregg, College & NFL Football Coach

“Why do I dominate the 400 meter hurdles? That's easy. Training. Just expertise. I know what I’m doing. I concentrate on this as much as I would engineering or physics or whatever I’d be doing. The discipline I had from engineering and physics got me through school and really stayed with me.”
—Edwin Moses, two time Olympic Champion

“If my players work hard every day, then they won’t have to worry about game plans, or where they play, or whom they play, or about rankings and so on. They have their daily behavior—their discipline—to fall back on.”
—Pete Carril, Princeton University Basketball Coach (Retired) and Hall-of-Famer

“There are four parts of self that lead to success. The first part is discipline, the second is concentration, the third is patience, and the fourth is faith.”
—George Foster, Former Major-League Baseball Player

What Really Matters

Consider this tid-bit from a national news outlet about the Boise State Football program:

"It is a reflection of Coach Petersen's trust in his players, and of the program's barebones budget, that the Broncos sleep in their own beds on the night before home games rather than bus to a nearby hotel, as is customary with I-A power programs (Boise State's football budget of $5.4 million is one sixth of the $32.3 million that Ohio State spends on its program).

Besides the fact that Boise seems to have very committed and dedicated student-athletes who can be trusted to get their rest the night before a game, here's the point.

Boise's athletes and coaches ARE MORE with less. You know how we always talk about "be more?" That's precisely what's going on here.

Boise's smaller budget and limited resources aren't what matters. They're NOT obstacles to BEING MORE. Boise is one of the nation's most successful football programs over the past decade.

What does matter is what you do with what you have. Some day you may be a lawyer in a small firm with limited resources, the owner of a low budget business, etc. That doesn't mean that you cannot be EXCELLENT at what you do.

EXCELLENCE is about your frame of mind and work ethic, and not about what you have!

"Be more!"

Larry Bird -- Master of the Half Inch

As was stated in Tuesday's practice, it's all about attention to detail. It's becoming excellent in the little things that makes the BIG things happen. Larry Bird should serve as an example for all of us--his genius was in "mastering the half inch!"

23 MATCHING ZONE DEFENSE IDENTICAL TO ONE USED AT NRP STIFLES ORLANDO MAGIC

Orlando Magic doomed by zone defense against Utah Jazz
Orlando Magic — posted by zach mccann on November, 10 2010 11:39 PM

Quentin Richardson and the Orlando Magic struggled against the zone in the fourth quarter, going 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. (US Presswire)

The zone defense is a rarely used tactic in the NBA, and it’s especially rare to see it against a sharp-shooting team like the Orlando Magic. But on Wednesday night, a second-half switch to a zone defensive scheme powered the Utah Jazz to a 104-90 win in Orlando.

The Jazz were out of ideas after trailing by as much as 18, and toward the end of the third quarter they mixed things up defensively by going away from man-to-man.

“We weren’t able to match up with Dwight Howard inside,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “So we tried to zone him some. Fortunately they missed some shots.”

The Jazz ended the third quarter on an 9-0 run, cutting a hefty Magic lead to nine. Utah remained in zone defense in the fourth quarter, and the results were negative for Orlando: Howard scored just one point and the Magic made 26.3 percent of their shots in the quarter.

The Jazz clicked on offense and outscored the Magic 39-20 in the period.

“They got into a little zone and we started rushing and pressing for shots, and that’s when we started getting turnovers,” Howard said. “We just have to play the game we’ve been playing to get wins. Inside, out.”

Added Rashard Lewis, who finished with 16 points: “I thought the zone disrupted us a little bit and we know how to play against zone defense. But tonight we got a little disrupted by zone and our offense didn’t flow as well.”

Zone defense is something the Magic will rarely see this season – it’s ordinarily foolish to zone up against the best three-point shooting team in the league – but it’s a method that worked Wednesday night. It’s something the other contending teams will have in their holster against Orlando, and if the Magic’s three-pointers aren’t falling and they’re turning the ball over – like tonight – then it can be effective.

KNIGHTS: DESPITE WHAT THIS REPORTER SAYS OUR 23 AND 31 PROPERLY PLAYED CAN SHUT DOWN GOOD 3-POINT SHOOTERS!!!! THE JAZZ JUST DID IT TO THE NBA'S BEST 3-POINT SHOOTING TEAM!!!

REMEMBER: THOSE WHO SAY IT CAN'T BE DONE ARE USUALLY BEATEN BY THOSE WHO DO IT!!!!

Kobe Bryant's Commitment to Excellence and Work Ethic

I recently read about a clinic Kobe Bryant did with players at the Michael Jordan Legacy court. Kobe Bryant’s commitment to excellence and attention to detail is second to none. He is arguably the best current player on the planet, and what I read helped me understand why.

Kobe Bryant taught the players the importance of having offensive combination moves. In other words, a variety of moves along with counter moves and counter moves to the counter moves.

For example, a shot fake, one dribble pull-up jumper to the right, then a fake and step in the same direction only to pull back and make the move to the other direction. Kobe’s point is that a player needs to practice moves and combinations to the extent that they become natural in the game.

How does Kobe do it? Preparation, focus, and a drive like no other athlete. Do you know that Kobe Bryant does not move on to the next combination move/shot until he has made 150 shots…IN A ROW?!

It is incredible to think that someone will work to make that many shots in a row for just one move let alone doing it repeatedly in an entire workout of combination moves. This takes extreme focus and drive. And points to the type of commitment that makes Kobe the best current player on the planet.

Being successful is not about the talent that you possess; rather, it’s about what you do with that talent. What are you doing with yours?

Learn from the most accomplished players what it takes to be successful and apply those lessons to everything you do, whether on the court or in the classroom.

“Commitment – Responsibility – Work”

The Practice Floor is Where Champions are Made

No team works harder than the 2010 NCAA championship Duke Blue Devils

Michigan State Basketball is known for a "blue-collar work ethic" that has led the Spartans to 5 Final Fours in the past 11 seasons

Ray Allen Works And Gets Better With Age

Ray Allen’s work ethic has become stuff of legend. Allen often declares that his workout and practice routines are directly related to his ability to continue to contribute as he is now playing into his mid 30’s.