Energy

Energy..... I can remember my old coach always saying " Fake it until make it" or "Faking it is contagious"; I hated hearing it, because I didn't believe it at the time. I mean I was tired I just finish running a suicide, and the last thing any athlete wants to hear is Fake it until make it. As a coach when your players lack energy in practice, it really destroys that practice. Energy is the attribute that does not require skill, it requires a commitment to yourself, to your team, and to your coaches. I have seen players receive more playing time, because when they come in the game there like  a spark plug. They create so much energy that their teammates only choice is to join in on the fun. You are not too cool to have energy, talk trash, or simply get your teammates motivated. Energy is starts with you, and it does not require skill only commitment. Commit to your team by being the spark plug.

Program Commitments

Program Commitments : Have them and make them visible
Season Commitments:Each season is different..Adjust and Adapt...
Stop all Negativity
What are you playing for? Who are you playing for?
Find a way to  make your team play together, and for each other.
What is your team's culture?
What is your team's core values

Have you worked as hard as you think?

It is the later part of the pre-season, and what we have established so far is the amount of work you put in during the off-season.  If you are not satisfied with your quality of play, then how hard have you worked in the off-season to play the way you expect. It is equally important as a player and as a coach to asses your level of commitment periodically to really ascertain if you could have done anything better.  As a coach have you provided your staff, and players with what's necessary to succeed in this upcoming year. Are you documenting what is going according to plan, and what is not going according to plan. Are your players performing the way they should. It is important to understand what your team needs, but more importantly what, and how each individual responds. As a former student athlete, I cannot express how important it is to understand how to motivate your players. The work ethic of this generation is so different; players no longer aspire to go in the gym by themselves, they usually have a trainer of some sort. So now as a coach you now become their trainer, so stop asking why can't you go in the gym by yourself, they do not know what it is to work hard, and understand what it takes to be that athlete. These are just questions that are necessary to perform the way you expect to perform in this season.  So I would start by asking myself have I worked as hard as I think?

Nick Saban the culture of his program

Nick Saban Culture

·       Culture the core value of what my team will be built on!

o   Effort,

o   Mental Toughness that can be sustained,

o   Be responsible for your own self determination

·       What is being successful?

o   Consistency in Performance

o    Pride in Performance

o    Perform at a standard that is important to you

·       It takes success to build on success!!!

·       There is no continuum to success!!

·       Sports are a metaphor for life; play the next play all the time!!!

·       The greatest opportunity to learn is when you make a mistake; you will either learn from the PAIN of DISCIPLINE or the PAIN of DISAPPOINTMENT

·       Character is an accumulation of your thoughts, habits, and priorities on a daily basis!!!

Mental Toughness

Mental Toughness is the very attribute every athlete needs to posses, but most do not. It is the very definition of talking to yourself instead of listening to yourself. Our mind has a way of playing tricks on us;  your mind naturally stays either in the past or the future! Rarely do we focus on right now, the present, how can I improve in this moment. The answer is simple, but the process is not. There are a lot of books on winning the mental game, and I will list one I recommend  at the end of this post, but rarely do we follow through; Why? If someone gave you the key to be a millionaire why are there so few, because we do not want to go through the process. It's not enough to just go to skills-training, it's not enough to play in the game, its just simply not enough! You can not be Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant without being mentally in a state of mind of understanding the process. Mental Toughness is a ongoing process, it can not stop because it is no natural to keep your mind in the present, so it will take work, commitment, and dedication of staying in the moment.
Mental Toughness= the Present moment.

1st book I recommend for you as a young student athlete- Mind Gym

Drew Brees " We need to get mentally tougher

http://www.wwltv.com/videos/sports/nfl/saints/2014/12/07/20066513/

What coaches want defensively

Defense its a word you hear over and over when coaches talk about winning championships.  I remember my college coach asked me what do you prefer offense or defense; I said defense because I loved the challenge of being able to stop the best player, I was aggressive and welcomed every challenge.  In most cases high school players rarely understand a defensive concept, because their coach lets them get away with it because they are the best player. In college those players struggle because they do not understand the  very concept of defense; help-side, jump to the ball, on the ball, on the line, up the line, press defense, zone defense, gambling for steals, helping your teammate etc.  As a collegiate coach if a player can score and play defense she is the talk of the tournament or game. I recently spoke to a friend of mine, and she spoke about a former player of hers named Lauren Holiday, who would defend you 94ft., and dare you to try to get by her. This is a shotout to all the high school defenders, the pride you take in your defense now will aid your development faster in college. Here are a few qualities coaches look for in defenders:

Quick feet
Ability to anticipate
Ability to recover
Do not reach for the steal every time
Jump to the ball
Listen
Use your feet, and not your hands

What coaches want cont'd

Understanding what your coaches is want is not easy, it will take constant communication with your head coach or position coach. It is imperative if you do not understand the offense or what your coach wants from you to schedule a meeting and find out what you need to do.  However, if you are not taking initiative to understand the offense i.e. watching film, getting extra shots up, or meeting with your position coach periodically, do not be surprised when frustration arises from playing time.  These are other qualities coaches want in a player:

Coachable
Attitude
Self -motivated
Understand their game
Understand their teammates
Student of the game
Work-ethic
Understand the importance of Study Hall, being eligible
Healthy player- takes rehab and stretching seriously

What coaches want offensively

There is a huge gap between high school and college, and I think one of the toughest aspects to grasp is decision making. As a player in high school you are competing against players who may not have the same skill level as you, which means you may probably be able to execute plenty of different moves whenever you want. However, in college there are a lot of different factors that prevents you from doing what worked in high school. The players in college are bigger, faster, stronger,  different styles of defenses, and coaches preferences, with all that being said one of the hardest aspects of competing in college is understanding what your coaches want from you offensively. I am providing a list based off my experience as an athlete and coach:

Understand your position
Understand the demand and expectation of your position
Understand the offense
Understand what is a good shot
What style of offense
Is it a guard orientated offense or a Post orientated offense
Understand the purpose of possessions
Understand the best shot available

What college coahes want from their players

As a former Division 1 assistant coach there are so many qualities you want your collegiate athletes to posses.  In the women's game there are so many fundamental attributes that are key to a player possessing some qualities that coaches want. There is no simple answer as to what is the best quality, its just what quality does that particular coach want. Here are some qualities a player must posses to be able to withstand the demand of the collegiate athletics.  In my experience as a player and coach these are some of the qualities I believed was necessary to compete as a player whether in practice or games,and  qualities I thought was necessary to compete as a coach.

-Mental Toughness
-Work -Ethic
-Coachable
-The ability to let go of mistakes
-The ability to be your own motivator

Stay tuned we will review offensive and defensive qualities coaches want.

Kevin Durant discussing Confidence with Steve Nash

Please check out this link...
http://www.slamonline.com/media/slam-tv/kevin-durant-steve-nash-discuss-road-greatness-video/

Self Confidence

 NCAA Basketball is on its way, and its an exciting time. I remember as an athlete having those pre-game jitters, wanting to take out some frustration, and showcase some new moves on people other than my teammates and practice guys. This is where all the off-season training showcases itself. I know this first game has either increased or decreased confidence. I know players are checking stat sheets or comparing your play to your teammates. As an athlete you are your worst critic, and when you do not perform the way you are capable and expected it steals your mind, and you replay those possessions in your head over and over, and the only satisfaction you can attain is to play the next game and perform well. If affects your self-confidence, and the crazy part about it is only YOU can give or take away your self confidence.  When I was a graduate assistant, their was a player who was not happy with her playing time, and she wanted to transfer as I listened to her feelings and argument, it became apparent that she lacked self-confidence. She no longer believed in her abilities, and was under the impression the coaching staff did not either. She made a decision 3 games into a 30 game season to transfer, because of Self Confidence. We will visit 6 steps to growing your confidence


What can you do to grow your SELF-CONFIDENCE.........

Confidence comes from doing something well over and over again

1.) TRAIN –Self-confidence comes out of a solid base of physical training. If you’ve trained in the off-season it is your God-given right to feel confident. If you’ve regularly slacked off, trying to feel confident is a joke and it’s on you! Confidence comes from knowing you’ve trained longer and harder than your competitor.

2.) REMIND YOURSELF- The nervousness of competition can sometimes cause us to forget how well you prepared. Remind yourself daily of how hard you trained, and remind yourself of your capabilities.

3.) DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF... FOCUS ON YOU!

4.) FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL

5.) DWELL ON THE POSITIVE- You have to take it easy on yourself.. you are doing the best you can in the moment that you can. Remember the positive of the day, remember the positive you accomplish.

6.) BE A GOOD COACH TO YOURSELF- focus more energy on catching yourself doing things right


https://www.competitivedge.com/self-confidence

Brandon Jennings Fake Pass

Great fake pass by Brandon Jennings!
I love point guards that display a lot of creativity

Signing Day

NLI (National Letter of Intent) this is the official letter that ensures your scholarship. This was one of the most relieving days for me, the recruiting process was over, and I was committed to LSU. This is when I finally knew what my future was going to be. It was biter sweet, because my best friends who were also very talented basketball players were extremely excited for me, and I was excited for what was to come for them. Enjoy today and remember it for the rest of your life.

What I didnt know?

                 What Questions to Ask?

If you are unfamiliar with the recruiting process it can be kind of scary "the Unknown" The unknown is the factor that prevents us from asking the right questions. The right questions start with yourself? Who are you?  It's a question we will ask ourselves for the rest of our lives...so do not panic! Here are some important questions to ask:

• What kind of player are you?
• What do you want to major in?
• Are you an athlete 1st, player 2nd?
• Do you want to play professionally?
• What do I  want to major in? 
•      -Does the school have my major
•       -Does practice time conflict with my core classes when I get into my major.
•       -Are there any alternative major and minors
• How many players are at your current position? 
• How many are being recruited at your position?
• Style of play
• Difficulty of offense and defense
•      -Understanding a college offense requires dedication
•      - It requires you becoming a student of the game
• Do you receive  a full scholarship?
• Will the program schedule a game close to home?

We will periodically review questions to ask! We are just starting at the beginning.

Intro video

Welcome

My name is Khalilah Mitchell and I started this blog to help student athletes gather the information necessary to make an informed decision about choosing a college. Choosing a college is one of the most important decisions of your life. As a 17 year old student athlete I was in uncharted water, it was stressful,I did not know anything about the recruiting process, what questions to ask, what is important to know, what am I going to study, where am I going to live, do i get stipend, can I drive my first year, what happens if I get hurt etc etc. I just went with the flow of my teammates and the university. I played at Louisiana State University from 2003-2008. I tore my ACL my first year of college and received a red-shirt year. We will discuss what a red-shirt year means later on throughout the blog. After I graduated I wanted to get my Masters Degree, and the University of Central Florida awarded me that opportunity, and upon graduation the head coach hired me as an Assistant Coach. Becoming an assistant coach had been my dream for the past 4 years, only to realize it was just a goal I set to accomplish, and I did! I was not satisfied, it did not give me the passion that i desired, which was skill development and helping the youth understand the process of getting to college. I made a commitment to myself; I wanted to aid  young student athletes get to college and share with them what I did not know in hopes of them making an informed decision, and being prepared for the demand of collegiate athletics. My commitment is to you, stay confident and disciplined