Born smaller, play taller.
05 March 2009
The thing I love about this game is the way something that can seem like a disadvantage at first can turn out to be the best thing that can happen. For me, recognising this is the key to becoming a better player.
For example: as a junior I was not the tallest player at my club. At first, this frustrated me as I wanted to spend all my time scoring. In the end, this turned out great for my game because it meant in the team I was trained as a point guard. But when I played with my shorter friends I was always under the basket. So I learned to see the game from all sides.
Or take the Athens 36˚ C summer heat: when it was too hot to train it was an extra incentive to get my schoolwork done to leave the cooler hours free for basketball. So I’d still get to train 6-7 hours outside my house – and my parents couldn’t complain about my school work suffering.
Keeping your brain alert is important, because basketball is a mental as well as physical game. You can try to visualize a game when you are at home. Imagine how an upcoming game will go, how you will move, how your opponents are going to react.
As a developing player I also tried to copy the moves of the players I admired - if you can copy a move that a player had spent all his time on to develop, you can save a lot of time and energy. Even now there are still players that I watch closely, players that do some things better than me. I still try to improve. That is what being a sportsman is about.
When I was younger I used to lie awake the night before a game thinking about how it would go. But I worked on that and now I can sleep. Sleep is very important.
So do not worry, sleep well and just do your best.
Keep checking my blog and tell me what you think.
Theo
For example: as a junior I was not the tallest player at my club. At first, this frustrated me as I wanted to spend all my time scoring. In the end, this turned out great for my game because it meant in the team I was trained as a point guard. But when I played with my shorter friends I was always under the basket. So I learned to see the game from all sides.
Or take the Athens 36˚ C summer heat: when it was too hot to train it was an extra incentive to get my schoolwork done to leave the cooler hours free for basketball. So I’d still get to train 6-7 hours outside my house – and my parents couldn’t complain about my school work suffering.
Keeping your brain alert is important, because basketball is a mental as well as physical game. You can try to visualize a game when you are at home. Imagine how an upcoming game will go, how you will move, how your opponents are going to react.
As a developing player I also tried to copy the moves of the players I admired - if you can copy a move that a player had spent all his time on to develop, you can save a lot of time and energy. Even now there are still players that I watch closely, players that do some things better than me. I still try to improve. That is what being a sportsman is about.
When I was younger I used to lie awake the night before a game thinking about how it would go. But I worked on that and now I can sleep. Sleep is very important.
So do not worry, sleep well and just do your best.
Keep checking my blog and tell me what you think.
Theo
CHANGE REGION
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