This video is clip from one of my confidence workshops & the topic is "Overcoming the fear of failure." I used this MJ commercial to teach a powerful lesson that many players will need as they enter a long season of ups & downs. I'm always amazed at how many players have mentally checked out by the time we get to Thanksgiving. I saw this in high school & college with many of my teammates but also could see it in other teams. True story, last season I went to a Univ. of Louisville mens basketball game in the preseason vs a small college. I went bc I was training the starting point guard on the small college but I sat behind UofL's bench that game in mid-Oct. What I saw on the bench told me everything I needed to know about that UofL team & the season they were about to have. They had no energy, during timeouts half the players were not engaged at all or not even paying attention. The players weren't smiling, they weren't clapping or encouraging each other & they just looked like they didn't like each other. They won a blow out game of course because of their talent & size but I walked away saying this team doesn't like each other & they having a loser's mindset... They ended up winning 8 games the whole season. I say this because as a player your confidence is something you have to protect at all costs & continue to build especially in the early part of the season to avoid a long miserable season. There are many hurdles you may need to overcome (injury, lack of playing time, a tough coach, a losing culture, selfish teammates, losing or toxic mindset, etc). These can happen anywhere & at all levels. The key is you protect your energy, your emotions & keep making deposits into your confidence bank. Here's a few tips: 1. Feed your mind & body correctly. Be very careful about what you let into your temple while you're in season & need to perform at a high level. The food you eat matters, it fuels & controls your emotions more than you think. More importantly the things you let into your mind (thoughts, music, what you look at & who you listen too) all create the environment you will perform out of. Protect it. 2. Give yourself room to accept failures & grow. Referencing the MJ commercial & lesson I posted its important that you view the season as a marathon that MUST include failures & valleys. Allow & accept that this will happen & it is actually NECESSARY for your growth as a player & person. This takes the pressure off of being perfect at every moment. 3. Stick to a Routine. Routines remove the array of emotions from getting your work in. Some days we're motivated but often we're not or we're going through it emotionally & just don't feel like putting in the work. By having a set routine (skill work, lifting, stretching, prayer, diet, sleep, etc) it allows you to weather those storms you go through because that is where most people lose confidence, in the storms.

Here is a Game Film Breakdown of different examples of how to handle the ball against defensive pressure. Also how I introduce these concepts into a drill for players in training. This is part of my course "HANDLING DEFENSIVE PRESSURE." I have uploaded this full course inside the VIP COMMUNITY. Here are 5 tips to consider when understanding this skill set: 1. Ball Handling skills are developed with repetition, consistency & stress. We have all done the traditional ball handling drills but the skill of handling pressure is developed differently. handling pressure deals more with your body position, protecting the ball & basketball IQ. 2. The players that handle pressure the best have these intangible qualities: POISE, PLAY UNDER CONTROL & STRONG WITH THE BALL. It is hard to really measure these skills but once you see them in a player you can tell that player is special. 3. Most dribbling drills are fundamentally designed for you to attack defenders on their heels, not protect the ball against an aggressive defender. This is why so many players with great ball handling skills still struggle in games against an aggressive on ball defender. The skill of handling pressure has to be taught differently. 4. Once you learn the body position & ball placement its important to practice this against live defense. This is the best way to develop this skill, you have to go live against defense & start learning through trial & error. Cones are not Bones, you have to get used to feeling real defense. 5. Watch great point guards who do a masterful job of handling pressure all game & different situations (traps, full court pressure, setting up offenses, etc). This is why I created my full online course for you guys. If you would like to have access to the full course "Handling Defensive Pressure" to see all the film breakdowns of full court pressure, traps, drawing fouls, getting open on wings, breaking 5 counts, dribbling against great defenders, etc. Its normally $99 but I've put it inside our VIP community which is only $29/mo right now for the first 50 that get inside it!

Hope everyone is doing well, I love the questions keep them coming! I had a couple people ask me about ball screen reads. Reminder I will have a zoom community call on this topic tomorrow (11/1), Friday 1p est. I wanted to share some video from a training session I had with a few HS/College players. This particular read was when the defense "ICE" the ball screen. When I played overseas we used the term 'ICE' but it can be called other things as well. Basically the ball defender & screen defender are building a wall to keep the ball handler from using the screen & stay on a sideline. Let me know your thoughts or any questions you may have? COMMUNITY CALL Friday 1pm EST Topic: READING BALL SCREENS & BBALL IQ