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You need a plan.
It creates direction.
The most common question I get is:
Jack, how do I become a professional basketball player?
Not an easy question to answer.
Especially in a short-form response.
But I can promise you one thing.
Without a plan.
You will never stumble upon success.
You will never accidentally trip into the NBL.
Success is not an accident.
Let's create a training plan.
There are 3 key points in creating a training plan.
Schedule
Focus
Mindset
Schedule
Here is my offseason schedule from 2019:
Monday
7am weights
9am individual skills
5pm weights
7pm team training
Tuesday
7am weights
9am individual skills
5pm weights
Wednesday
7am shooting
9am individual skills
12pm open pickup
5pm weights
Thursday
7am weights
9am individual skills
5pm weights
7pm team training
Friday
7am weights
9am individual skills
3pm individual skills
Saturday
9am weights
10am shootaround
8pm Game
Sunday
10am sprint session
I'm not saying this is perfect.
But this is what I did in 2019 after my rookie year in the NBL.
Each individual skills session was with Joey Wright.
Each weights session was with Alf Connolly the 36ers strength coach.
To become a pro.
You CANNOT escape the work.
There are 80 spots in the NBL.
To make a team you have to end someone's career.
It is possible.
Someone has to play in all the leagues around the world.
But you have to outwork every single other basketball player going for those spots.
During a workout one day.
Joey Wright asked me, "What my goal was?"
I responded.
"To be the best player in Australia."
He replied with a smile.
"Well if you aren't the hardest worker in Australia, you live in a delusional reality."
This is why I created a rule for my life.
The 3-a-day rule.
I have to at minimum do 3 activities a day that moves me a step toward my goal.
Sunday is an off day.
In the above schedule, you will see 3 planned exercises every day.
This doesn’t include:
Recovery
Sleep
Eating well
Film
Watching other people working out
Planning workouts
Mindfulness practice
Stretching
The only way to improve is through time spent improving.
Get in the gym and get better.
Most likely you don’t train this much.
Your body and mind will break down if you try and jump straight into it. Or you'll be so exhausted you can't work out with 100% effort.
Build up to this amount of training.
Add a session a week over a year.
Every week do one more session than you did the week before.
This isn't a grind of an offseason.
You are building something sustainable for 10-20 years.
Consistency is better than chaos.
Build a program you can stick to.
Focus
You need focus:
What are you trying to improve?
How are you going to achieve that?
A clear map is needed in your head.
Use coaches and mentors to get honest feedback on what you need to work on.
Here is what I made for myself after last season's finish:
Daily workout
Closeouts - weight room/defensive live close-out drills
Mid-post-up - daily footwork, finishing series, film, one on one from mid-post
Deep threes - concentrated reps, daily build-up, release shoulder and lats
Left-hand dribble - daily concentrated left hand, create a routine, left to right move, full court one on one
Weekly workout
Rebounding- once a week at a park AFL, wrestling, weight room, focus on rebounding at training and games
Low post and finishing- my finishing routine and hook shots, one on one, weight room.
Full court defence- weight room, defensive drills, full court 1v1, 1v2 full court
I had my focus.
I knew exactly what I was going to work on every day.
And what I would improve weekly.
I knew before going to bed on Sunday exactly how I was going to get better during the week.
I was leaving nothing to chance.
1. Find what you need to improve on
Use coaches
Self-reflect and review
2. Find how to improve those areas
Study
Acquire more knowledge
Learn from coaches
Watch other successful people
3. Execute it every single day
One step forward
Mindset
Mindset plays a huge role in sports.
Today we are going to focus just on the role mindset has in scheduling your workouts.
Concentrated reps
The grind
Growth Mindset
Concentrated reps
You can't half-ass any session.
Progress only occurs when you are completely locked in.
The harder you go, the quicker you will improve.
The more focused on the present moment you are, the quicker your body will learn.
This is a skill.
And it will take time to develop.
But this is crucial.
You can create the perfect program and still not develop skills.
Concentrated repetition is the key ingredient.
The Grind
Everyone thinks the grind is getting an insane amount of workouts done in a week.
Or doing an exhausting boot camp.
That isn't the grind.
The grind is:
Showing up every day
Showing up when you're tired
Showing up when you're sore
Showing up when no one is watching
Showing up for 5 extra minutes
Showing up when friends are doing something else
Showing up when you don’t want to
That is the grind.
And if you want to become a professional basketball player.
You can't escape it.
Growth mindset
I've given you what works for me and the people I mentor.
You have to find what works for you.
Continue to look for ways to improve your schedule.
Can you get better by 1% every day?
Does extra sleep help you concentrate more?
Do you need more basketball workouts or more gym sessions?
Find what you need for your development.
You have to take accountability for your own training and learning.
No one else cares about your development as much as you do.
Act like it.
Recap:
You need a plan.
- Design a schedule that is manageable.
- Build on and improve that schedule.
You need a focus.
- Find what you need to improve on
- Find how to improve those areas
- Execute it every single day
You need the mindset
- Concentrate on every rep
- Embrace the grind
- Continue to learn.
Thank you for reading.
If you enjoyed this.
I cover mindset skills in the weekly newsletter Mondays with McVeigh.
I'd love for you to join the team below.
Have a great day.