Did you hear the news? That’s right, high schoolers, they moved up tryout dates one week this year. What does that mean? You have less time to prepare yourself. Fortunately, we are working hard here at BT Basketball to provide you with every opportunity to be ready to go come Day 1 of tryouts. Check out our Fall Skills Clinics (tab above), Teacher’s Convention Clinic (tab above) as well as a bunch of new videos (tab above, and…)

So let’s talk real quick. Just the word study gets me an eye roll from basically every player in our program. I get it, there’s plenty of studying that needs to get done for school that the thought of adding more to that is almost intolerable.

However….

This is a different type of studying. Take regular school work. For most people, if they don’t study at all, they will end up with a poor grade. Sure, there are some people that don’t have to study and they still do well. Those are a rare breed. Most need to study and study well. Quick side note, what happens to the person who doesn’t need to study, but still does? They excel and dominate (keep that in mind). Studying is what helps you take your game to the ultimate next level, on the court or in the classroom. The more information that you can use in practical application, the better you become. Quite simple really.

Quick story. Back when I was in middle school, I idolized Jon Deeb, who was 5 years older than me and an outstanding point guard at Sparta HS. I wanted to do the things that he was doing. I wanted to wow crowds the way he did. I wanted to dribble, shoot, dominate in the same way. As I got into high school and he moved on to college, we became friends. I had already been studying his game in person, watching his every move. How he used his body, or his footwork, or his vision. I dissected every piece of his game.

But I needed more.

I knew his family recorded his high school games. So what did I do? Yep, I commandeered about 7 tapes. Still have those VHS tapes to this day (google it young folks). I immediately popped them in and began my work. I watched tape after tape after tape. Then I watched them again and again and again to the point where I knew what he was going to do before he did (at least on tape). I picked and chose aspects of his game that I thought I could incorporate into mine and took to the driveway to begin my own transformation. At times I felt like I was cheating. I had such valuable information at my fingertips. These tapes were pure gold for me.

I took this same principle and applied it directly to myself. I was fortunate to have a family that was willing to record each of my games in high school. After every game, win or loss, I would watch the tape of that night. What did I do wrong. Are they mental or physical mistakes. What can I improve upon. What did I do well that I can do better. Every game, dissecting each play, offensively and defensively. Looking for every edge on the competition. I wanted that edge. I NEEDED that edge.

Today it’s 1,000,000 times easier. Information is so simple to attain now. Whether it be YouTube, Google or any other number of avenues, information is right at your fingertips. The question, as always, is what will you decide to do with it. You are here, reading this, so the good news is that you are interested in learning. Just our site alone provides you with informational blogs, videos and more to help you get rolling. But don’t stop here. Find all the info you can and study it like your final grade depends on it.

Because it does.