Day 4 - The Mouse That Never Sleeps: Practice Breeds Tendencies

Today it's day # 4 of the 7 day process to transform the way you play basketball. By reading the subject line of this email you're probably thinking...

How dare I compare you to a rodent? Mice are nasty and disgusting creatures that end up in mouse traps because they fall for the cheese, right?

Well hold on a second. Have you ever heard the expression the mouse never sleeps? It's true, the mouse is hunting, clawing, and scratching for food longer after you and I have went to sleep.

The mouse never sleeps and neither should you!

When you think about practice, what do you think about? You probably think about hard work and pushing your body to its physical limits. You probably think about running suicides and other conditioning workouts. You probably think about coaches screaming and yelling.

Practice is the dirt

Nothing about it is clean, fun, or entertaining.

It is hard work, downgrading, and TOUGH.

But what rises from practice? Honor, respect, and ultimately success rise from practice. What's even more special is those traits cannot be attained without practice.

So when you think practice, you think the mouse that never sleeps...

Practice Breeds Tendencies

An old coach of mine once said that it's not about practicing, but it's about practicing right. By that he meant that you can practice all day and night, but if you do not CHALLENGE yourself and you do not practice right, the time commitment isn't going to pay off.

Basketball is a very fundamental sport. So many fundamentals compose a perfect shot, a strong dribbler, passer, rebounder, or defender. What's even more important about basketball fundamentals is a lot of them are self-taught and picked up by you and only you.

Yes the coach will help instruct, "the right way" of doing things and will preach fundamentals but what about the other nine months of the year when you're not around the coach? What about them?

Practice breeds tendencies, because when you do something over and over again your body will become accustom to the movement. So if you shoot with the elbow out, shoot with two hands instead of one, or do not follow through on a consistent basis - your tendencies will follow.

That exactly why {!name} it is not only important to practice but practice right.

Now think of yourself as the mouse that never sleeps but ALSO is a very smart mouse. Let's think of somebody like Mickey Mouse. He's generated billions of dollars for Disney so he must be smart right?

The Right Tendencies

So how do you practice the right way?

First you must understand the fundamentals. These are taught by your coach, instructional videos, or even watching a college basketball game on television. I stress college basketball because these players are much more fundamentally sound and team-orientated compared to the NBA, despite being a more talented league.

Watch and learn. Then take it one step at a time. Shooting is the most complicated fundamental you will learn. It is complicated because several correct motions are required on each and every shot to score consistently.

Watch great shooters like Ray Allen to learn the correct shooting motion. Work one on one with a coach or basketball instructor.

But more importantly, once you learn the correct way of doing things continue to do them right! This may sound like a given, but you would be surprised how many basketball players become lazy or sloppy in their fundamentals. Just remember that even a few practices can destroy weeks of hard work and attention to detail.

Doing the dirt, never sleeping, and mastering practice

The formula is simple. Do the dirt (practice), never sleep(practice consistently), and master practice (by building upon solid tendencies).

I once was told practice never makes you perfect, but it does make you damn good.

That is definitely true. When you practice and practice based in fundamentals, you have no excuse for not failing. Always create your practice routines around fundamentals and conditioning and your game will follow.

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